Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

"A Meeting of Free Masons for the Admission of Masters" Plate 4
1812
Thomas Palser, publisher (active 1799-1843)
England: London
Ink on paper
sheet: 12"h x 18-1/8"w; plate mark: 8-1/4"h x 12-3/4"w; image: 7-1/8"h x 11-7/8"w
Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts
GL2004.3825

Colored engraving showing a Masonic Lodge room. At center back is drapery around a chair with a man seated. There is a floorcloth at center (a tracing board) and three sets of three candlestands. Fifteen additional men are arranged around the room. Most are standing in rows on either side of the floorcloth. On man, at right, is by the door. At left is one man on the floor covered with a blood-stained cloth. One man stands at the head of the floorcloth with his back facing out. Two men are in the right foreground, one has the other at swordpoint. All wear Masonic aprons and eighteenth century style clothing. Each man in the print has a number above his head. These numbers correspond to a column beneath the image on the left and the right with a key. The left column reads, "1 The master / 2 Orator / 3 Secretary / 4.5.6 Brothers / 7 Senior Warden." The right column reads, "8 Junior Warden / 9 Treasurer / 10 Tyler / 11 Candidate / 12 Do. in further progress of his admission." At center is the title of the print in cursive style, "Plate 4 A Meeting of Free Masons for the Admission of Masters / Introduction of the Candidate in the Lodge by the Junior Warden who is proving him by the sign + Token." Beneath the title, it reads, "Published, March 1, 1812, by Thos. Palser. Surry side Westminster Bridge." Currently matted in a hinged cream matte.