Tapestry with the Coat of Arms of the Greder Family

Originally created to function as a moveable form of decoration in the 14th century, tapestries had become a fixed and permanent element in interior spaces by the beginning of the 18th century.  This French tapestry is from a set commissioned by François Laurent Greder to decorate his Swiss family's estate.  Two quadrants of the coat of arms in the tapestry's center show a silver bird's leg and claw with fleurs-de-lis, which represent the Greder arms.  The other quadrants contain five red roses each, which represent Blumenstein, a property of the Greder family.  Greder was promoted to the rank of brigadier in the French army in 1691, and the pieces of armor at the bottom of the tapestry probably relate to his military career.