Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

"A Meeting of Free Masons for the Admission of Masters" Plate 5
1812
Thomas Palser, publisher (active 1799-1843)
England: London
Ink on paper
sheet: 12-1/8"h x 19-3/8"w; plate mark: 8-7/8"h x 12-3/4"w; image: 7-1/8"h x 12-1/8"w
Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts
GL2004.3827

Colored engraving showing a Masonic Lodge room. At center back is drapery. There is a floorcloth at center (a tracing board) and three sets of three candlestands. There is one chair at the left. Fifteen additional men are arranged around the room. One man, at left, is by the door. Most of the men stand on either side of the floorcloth. Three are at back right seated with sheets over their heads. At center back, one man watches two others lay a fourth man on the floorcloth. All wear Masonic aprons and eighteenth century style clothing. Several of the men in the print have a number above their 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 Senior Warden / 3 Junior Warden / 4 Candidate." The right column reads, "5, 6, 7 Candidates in waiting / 8 Orator / 9 Secretary / 10 Treasurer / 11 Tyler." At center is the title of the print in cursive style, "Plate 5 A Meeting of Free Masons for the Admission of Masters / Ceremony of placing the Candidate on the Tablet designed on the floor of the Lodge." Beneath the title, it reads, "Published, March 1, 1812, by Thos. Palser. Surry side Westminster Bridge." Currently matted in a hinged cream matte.