This pair of pelmets almost certainly formed part of an important or ceremonial bed. They would have formed the outer valances and bases of the three exposed sides, possibly with corresponding inner valances; however, given that these pelmets are now all cut, it is difficult to tell their original size and purpose.

While grand 17th century beds often included embroidered silk imported from China, these hangings are entirely European in their design and manufacture. With glittering metallic thread, they contain cartouches depicting various far east scenes of figures hunting, fishing and playing games among other intimate and imagined scenes of daily life. The lambrequin-draped brackets within triumphal vase-capped cartouches reflect the Louis XIV 'Roman' fashion popularized around 1700 by the engraved Oeuvres of Jean Berain. His engravings for decorative arts and architectural elements were widely copied through Europe well into the 1720s and 1730s. They also show how the Chinoiserie-mania spread from the courts of France and England to the smaller principalities of the German states, and even beyond to the courts of St. Petersburg and Scandinavia.