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Design for Masonic Knights Templar Reading Commandery No. 50 Guard Jewel
1900-1950
Frederick T. Widmer (1877-1955); Kenneth Robert Park (1908-2008)
USA: Massachusetts, Boston
Watercolor on card
Overall: 3"h x 1 5/8"w
Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts
GL2004.10961.8

Design for Masonic Knights Templar Reading Commandery No. 50 Guard jewel. Gold-tone jewel with rectangular bar at top reading "Guard." A vertically striped black and white ribbon hangs from the bar. A round medal is suspended from the ribbon and has a seal in the center. Lettering along the edge reads "Reading No. 50 K.T."


Jewelers who specialized in fraternal jewelry often keep photographs or images of the different jewels, badges and awards they manufactured as a catalogue of their offerings. When a lodge or organization requested a new design, the jeweler frequently drew or painted a sketch of the proposed design to facilitate discussion. The watercolors displayed here are badge and jewel designs from the Boston shop of jeweler Frederick Widmer and his successor, Kenneth Park. For further information, see Newell, Aimee, et.al., "Curiosities of the Craft: Treasures from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Collection", 2013, p. 274-275.



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