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1780-1800
Maker not marked
USA: probably Massachusetts
Silk, watercolor on leather
Overall: 11-1/2"h x 14"w x 1/8"d
Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts
GL2004.1799
White leather Masonic apron with brown printed silk border and ties; painted on leather in watercolor are typical Masonic symbols including all-seeing eye, Jachin and Boaz columns, checkered floor, candlestands, and others.
In 1788, Moses Michael Hays (1739-1805) became Grand Master of the “Ancient” Grand Lodge in Massachusetts. Hays served in this position until the Boston Grand Lodges united in 1792. The apron shows a design and style that date it to the late 1700s. It combines symbols associated with the first three degrees, as well as the Royal Arch. Hays’s great-great-granddaughters presented the apron and the jewel (GL2004.4696) to the Grand Lodge in 1937, along with other material associated with their ancestor. For further information, see Newell, Aimee, et.al., "Curiosities of the Craft: Treasures from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Collection", 2013, p. 44-45.