Titlebar icons used by Thunar (folder, home folder, trash, etc.) appear to be larger images scaled down to 16x16, even when the icon theme in use has corresponding 16x16 icons. Rather than resizing a larger icon for the titlebar, it should use the theme's 16x16 icon by default and rely on a resized icon as a fallback.
It only sets the icon-name. Please reopen if this is still an issue with the latest Thunar release.