Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Freemason and Wife
1860-1900
O. Monroe
USA: New York, Dunkirk
Photograph on paper mounted on board
Gift in memory of Jacques Noel Jacobsen
2008.038.67

Sepia-toned Masonic carte-de-visite photograph. Full length portrait of man and woman; the woman is seated, with the man standing directly behind her to her left (the right side of the photograph). Woman is wearing a dark dress with black and white buttons, a white blouse, and a belt with a black buckle. She is seated on a chair with a rounded back, with her hands folded on her lap. The man's right hand is behind her. He is wearing a black coat and pants, white shirt, dark, patterned necktie; and Masonic collar and apron. His collar is black, with a white border and five five-pointed stars. His apron is white, with a darker border around the edges and the flap; there are two tassels hanging from the flap. The couple are posed in front of an urban landscape painting. The photograph has a gilt double-lined border running around it. Printed in black on the back is "Two doors below the Lake Shore Bank / O. Monroe / Photographer, / Dunkirk, N.Y." There is a blue two cent tax stamp on the back with a picture of George Washington; the stamp has been rotated about 90 degrees to the left, and has been canceled with a black "X." The two bottom corners of the carte-de-visite have been truncated off.