Amateur Artists
Apron Design, 1800-1820
Probably United States
Special Acquisitions Fund, 80.13
Photograph by David Bohl
On occasion Masons drew pictures of symbols, scenes and ritual objects when communicating with their brethren. This watercolor, which may have been enclosed in a letter, shows the design of an apron. This design includes symbols—such as the rooster, lion and eagle—that helped illustrate lessons taught in the higher degrees, now known as the York and Scottish Rites. Scholars have speculated that the painter who drew this design was copying the iconography of a French apron.
Along with professional artists who earned their living executing different kinds of painting for lodges and chapters, many amateur artists helped express ideas and concepts in Freemasonry. Some were members, like Israel Thorndike Hunt (1841-1905), who illustrated regalia and meeting room decorations to communicate details about these arrangements to his brethren. Other amateur artists had a close association with a member, like schoolgirl Martha Harding (1813-1841). She illustrated Royal Arch records with delicate watercolors, likely at the request of her father, who belonged to the organization. Both professional and amateur artists helped lodges undertake their work and celebrate accomplishments, and, in doing so, they left a rich visual record.
Lord's Prayer, ca. 1800
C.R. Warren (dates unknown)
United States
Special Acquisitions Fund, 84.75
Photograph by David Bohl
Religion, politics and Freemasonry were on the mind of C. R. Warren, the artist who drew and penned this work. On it he or she included images to illustrate commerce—ships and a lighthouse at the top left, and agriculture—buildings and fences at the top right, along with
the Lord’s Prayer, portions of a poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) and, at the center, a square and compasses, an emblem of Freemasonry.
"Sun, Square and Compass, upon the Holy Bible," King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter Mark Book, 1825-1838
Martha S. Harding (1813-1841)
New Salem, Massachusetts
Museum Purchase, A92/001/1
Photograph by David Bohl
As part of the Mark Master degree, each initiate selected a personally meaningful emblem that the lodge or chapter secretary then recorded. This book contains members' marks from the King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter in Greenwich Village, Massachusetts. Martha S. Harding, the daughter of chapter member Alpheus Harding (1780-1869), illustrated most of the marks in pencil, ink and watercolor, lending color and polish to the chapter’s records. Martha Harding likely honed her painting skills while a student at New Salem Academy from 1822 to 1829.