Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Royal Arch Apron
1796
Nicholas Hasselkuse (1781-1845)
USA: New York, Herkimer County
Ink and paint on silk, cotton
overall: 14"h x 14-5/8"w
Museum Purchase
2012.051.1

Masonic Royal Arch apron. Square body with rounded flap. Flap and body are off-white silk. Flap is painted with angel blowing a trumpet. Banner coming out of the trumpet reads "Holiness to the Lord." Angel holds a green leafy sprig in its other hand. A rainbow stretches over the angel. Blue textured background. Body shows an arrangement of Masonic symbols. At center bottom is a series of three arches with an altar at center. A book, square and compasses and straightedge are on top of the altar. At the back of the arches, a figure holds a pink-red curtain with yellow fringe. A hand sticks out from each side of the arches; one hand holds a sword, the other a plumb. Two figures in blue robes stand on top of the arches and extend a rope down to the figure with the curtain. Above the figures on top of the arches are two groups of Masonic tools, a sun, a moon and seven stars. On each side of the central arches motif is a column. Each has a figure in a pink robe on top. The one at right holds an urn with incense. The one on the left holds a star. The column on the left has a banner reading "Love Beauty." The column on the right has a banner reading "Friendship Strength." To the left on the other side of the column is a burning bush. To the right on the other side of that column is a seven-armed candelabra. At bottom right, in blue, is "Nicholas Hasselkuse / 1796." Backed with brown fabric and bound with peach (faded) ribbon.

Most aprons made in the late 1700s and early 1800s were not signed by the craftsmen who decorated them; this apron seems to be an exception. Owners, if they marked their aprons, typically recorded their names under the flap. The name Nicholas Hasselkuse, noted in the right hand corner of this apron, is likely the painter who ornamented the apron with colorful symbols, figures and mottos. Only 17 in 1796, Hasselkuse may have been an apprentice when he decorated this apron. For further information, see Newell, Aimee E., "The Badge of a Freemason," 2015, p. 28-29.