Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & LibraryObjects
1805-1820
Maker not marked
USA: Massachusetts (probably)
Watercolor on silk
ON BOARD: 26"h x 17"w; overall: 17-1/4"h x 14-1/2"w
Museum Purchase
96.040
Masonic Master Mason apron with square body and rounded flap; white silk with faded light blue edging; affixed to cardboard backing; flap: hand-painted with all-seeing eye and motto: "SIT LUX ET LUX FUIT" within a nimbus; center painted with Faith, Hope, Charity on mosaic pavement centering a large looking glass on pedestal reflecting images of Masonic symbols; above, the radiant sun and crescent moon with seven stars; beneath the flap an ink monogram "J.T."
In style and execution this apron shares similarities with the kind of art taught to and practiced by schoolgirls in the early 1800s. The painter who decorated this silk apron was possibly a female relation of its original owner. She may have looked to a certificate, like the one designed by Daniel Raynerd (active 1797–1815) reproduced nearby, as a model for the allegorical figures and for the composition. “The Badge of a Freemason: Masonic Aprons from the Collection,” March 2016-March 2017