Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Free Mason Form'd out of the Materials of His Lodge
1769; 1763
Samuel King (1749-1819)
USA: Rhode Island, Newport (Probably)
Ink; watercolor; paper; frame: glass; wood
sheet: 13"h x 8-1/4"w
Extended Loan from Lodge of St. Andrew, A. F. & A. M., Boston, Massachusetts
EL76.001.1

Free Mason Form'd out of the Materials of His Lodge; a: watercolor of human figure constructed out of Masonic tools; text reads "A FreeMason/ Form'd out of the materials of his Lodge/ Behold a Master Mason rare,/ Whose mistic Portrait does declare,/ The secrets of Free Masonry,/ Fair for all to read and see;/ but few there are to whom they're known,/ Tho they so plainly here are shown./ S. King 1763."; b: wooden frame with glass; reverse of frame has label that reads "S. King, the artist of the carica-/ ture, is Samuel King of Newport, Rhode Island, (1748 or '49-1819). He was a/ portrait miniature painter, a mathematical/ instrument maker, and taught such notable/ American artists as Gilbert Sutart, Mal-/ bone, and Washington Allston./ -On Loan-/ Property of Lodge of St. Andrew"; in black above label, reads "This belongs to/ The Lodge of St. Andrew".

For further information, see Hamilton, John D., "Material Culture of American Freemasons," 1994, p. 29-30 AND Blog post, November 30, 2016 http://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/2016/11/new-to-the-collection-a-free-mason-composed-of-the-materials-of-his-lodge.html