Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Apron
ca. 1797
Maker not marked
USA: Maryland, Baltimore (probably)
Oil paint on silk; paper
overall: 16"h x 17-1/4"w
Special Acquisitions Fund
84.79.1

Masonic apron with shield-shaped body and rounded flap; white silk with light blue pleated silk trim; hand painted on flap is an all-seeing eye in gold and silver and a banner reading "Sit Lux Et Lux Fuit"; central design on apron of gold square and compasses, with legs of compasses being intertwined with square (in Fellow Craft position) with green vine.

Although Freemasons rely on a long-established constellation of symbols to teach the principles of their order, their regalia and furnishings are influenced by changing trends in fashion. The spare decoration and curved bottom edge of this apron echo some of the shield and urn shapes popular in furniture and other decorative arts during the late 1700s and early 1800s. A Baltimore Mason named Samuel Arnold (dates unknown) is thought to have owned this apron. For further information, See Newell, Aimee E., "The Badge of a Freemason," 2015, p. 220-221.