Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Mark Medal for Thomas Clark
1813
Maker not marked
USA: New York, New York
Copper, gold
Overall: 3"h x 1-13/16"w x .27"d; overall: 7.6 x 4.6 cm; weight: 16.2 g
Museum Purchase
2018.003

Shield-shaped mark jewel, topped with a square and compasses over a Bible. The hinge of the compasses has a hole in it to accommodate a loop. Jewel engraved on both sides. At the middle of one side is a crescent shape. Within the crescent “Thomas Clark / Trinity M. M. M. Lodge / No. 40 A. L. 5813” is engraved. An all-seeing eye surrounded by rays is at the top of the crescent; on a background of engraved lines, stylized flowers decorate the points of the shield. On the other side, a circle encloses the mnemonic “HTWSSTKS”, and an asterisk-like design separates each letter. Within the circle are engraved a woman (Eve, at left) and a man (Adam, at right). Between them is the trunk and the lower portion of an apple tree. A serpent winds around the tree trunk, his head facing to the left. A banner in the tree reads “UNITED WE ARE”. Stylized flowers with six petals on a background of engraved lines ornament each of the shield points. The medal appears to have been made of copper, and gilded. The arms of the compasses and the hinge of the square show where they have been soldered, likely to repair a break.

A shield-shaped mark medal engraved for Thomas Clark. Clark served as Master of Trinity Lodge No. 10 and belonged to Trinity Mark Lodge No. 40, warranted in 1808. Clark drowned in New York in 1822. For his mark, Clark selected an image of Adam, Eve and the serpent standing under a banner that says, “United We Are.” The metal is made of gilded copper.