Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Master Mason Apron with Carrying Case
1845-1860
Maker not marked
USA
a: watercolor on leather, bullion, silk, cotton; b: cotton, metal
a: 16"h x 17-1/2"w; b: 14-1/4"h x 16"w x 1/8"d
Gift of Jacques Noel Jacobsen, Jr.
94.011.5a-b

a: Masonic Master Mason apron with square body and triangular flap; white leather edge with blue silk and silver bullion fringe; hand-painted all-seeing eye on flap; suspended from under flap: blue silk tabs with gold sequined rosettes with silver bullion fringe; square and compasses and "G" in center flanked by sun, moon and seven stars; below: rough and perfect ashlar stones, gavel, twenty-four inch gauge and sprigs of acacia; small gold bullion rosettes in lower left and lower right corners; reverse lined with blue cotton; b: white four-flap cotton carrying case with two snaps.

While this apron has the square body and triangular flap that became practically universal by the late 1800s, it still exhibits the hand-painted decoration and silver trim that were popular on older aprons. The tabs on the apron front represent the ends of the secured ties found on earlier styles of apron. The combination of old and new elements on this apron demonstrates that change in apron style and decoration took place gradually. For further information, see Newell, Aimee E., "The Badge of a Freemason," 2015, p. 160.