Worshipful Master's Chair

Worshipful Master's Chair

John Luker made this chair for the Master of Swan Lodge No. 358 in New Mount Pleasant, Ohio. Luker delineated Masonic symbols on the chair using metallic paint. In a softly lit lodge room the contrast of the metallic paint with the dark color of the chair would have been striking. In 1870, around the time Luker manufactured the chair, he lived with his brother. His brother worked in the “metallic roofing business,” suggesting a source for the metallic powders Luker used to decorate the chair.

For more on this object please visit the online collection record here.

Gift of the Estate of Charles V. Hagler, 85.20.1.1

John Luker (b. 1838), Vinton County, Ohio

ca. 1870