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Masonic Apron
1805-15
Maker not marked
USA: Massachusetts
Silk, cotton
overall: 14-1/4"h x 17"w
Special Acquisitions Fund
83.2.3

Masonic apron with rounded body and rounded flap; embroidered in silk on silk with cotton backing; motifs include all-seeing eye, sun, moon, and stars on flap; central design of arms or seal of Freemasons in Massachusetts reading "Follow Reason"; other symbols include columns, globes, gavel, trowel, anchor, "In Hoc Signo Vinces" [Knights Templar], ladder, rule, plumb and level, ribbon; worked in blue, green, orange, pink, yellow, brown, beige; blue trim; cream silk ties.


Embroidered on silk fabric, this luxurious apron may have been made by a young female relative of its original owner. The embroiderer based the apron’s central design on the seal of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, suggesting that the apron was used here. The seal features a shield bearing a square and compasses and three castles, flanked by beavers and the motto “Follow Reason.” The Grand Lodge used this version of the seal from 1752 through 1857. For further information, see Newell, Aimee E., "The Badge of a Freemason," 2015, p. 66-67.



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