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Our collection’s oldest
Blue Lodge apron
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The textiles collection at the House of the Temple includes a variety of artifacts, including aprons, collars, flags, hats, and tracing boards. The regalia of the order, however, holds a special place for many people. Sometimes these garments have been handed down from generation to generation, and other times they are carefully selected by the wearer. As a way of showing visitors to the Temple the diversity of our regalia collection, as well as giving a sense of how aprons have changed over time, from one country to another, and from one order to another, we began a project to display aprons in our library. The result was “Treasured Textiles: Rediscovering the Artistry of Masonic Regalia,” an exhibit that opened September 15, 2006, in time for the biennial session of the Supreme Council.The Masonic regalia collection at the Supreme Council is incredibly diverse. With over 150 aprons in the collection, selecting which objects to feature was difficult. After hours of research, condition assessment, and decisions, there were about 60 aprons we felt would make a comprehensive and beautiful exhibit.
“Treasured Textiles” has many purposes. When we speak of rediscovering these aprons, we are not just talking about digging through storage to see what we have, although that was certainly a part of it, we are also talking about several other aspects. One of these is the symbols of Freemasonry and how they vary by time and country. The context in which these aprons were created plays into why some symbols were used and not others. These reasons could be a national, like the heart and sword (seen only in the United States), or a painters’ ability to create a complex symbol. This context relates to geography, personal tastes, fashion trends, technology, and even the publications of the time. For example, Jeremy Ladd Cross’s 1819 monitor, The True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor, is one of the greatest examples of literature affecting the design and adornment of Masonic regalia.
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Royal Arch High Priest apron
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We are also interested in who owned the aprons and wore them, where these men were from, and where they acquired their aprons. Did they have the finest French silks, or simple linen embroidered by their wives or daughters? Where did they get their aprons? Their fathers? A dealer? How often did they wear the apron? Did they have more than one? These questions help us to understand those asked above about context and also those about who these men are that have been involved in Freemasonry two or even three hundred years ago.
The exhibit is also about the art of the textiles themselves. The craftsmanship present in many of these aprons is just amazing when one considers that they were not made by machines but by hand, or the amount of time that one person would have spent with thick gauge wire thread to decorate some of them. The textile arts aspect of this exhibit spans an incredible array of knowledge about not only the fabrics, but also the painters, printers, embroiderers, dealers, and especially the designers and the wearers.
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| The High Priest is the presiding officer in an American Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He represents Joshua, the High Priest of the Hebrews when they returned from Babylonian exile. The emblem consists of three triangles engraved with “Yahweh” in Hebrew on which rests a replica of the breastplate of the High Priest, a rectangular plate set with 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel.
The origins of the Order of High Priesthood, the formal name of the degree for Past High Priests, are unclear since there are so few documents about it. Thomas Smith Webb makes no mention of the Order in The Freemason’s Monitor (1797), but it’s mentioned in his revised Monitor of 1802. The General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons officially adopted the Order of High Priesthood in 1799.
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Rose Croix Degree
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| Rose Croix is a French term that translates “Rose Cross” and applies to several degrees including the 7° of the French Rite, 7° of the Philalethes Rite, 12° of the Elect of Truth, and 18° of the Scottish Rite. Despite the many uses of Rose Croix by different rites, the emblem has stayed much the same through them all. |
When we begin to look at these aprons and the other textiles in the collection we can begin to have a greater understanding of Freemasonry and its members, and we also can begin to contribute to the knowledge of the field of textile arts. Right now there are few people who are aware of the magnitude of Masonic textiles. This exhibit is a way to begin to bring to light many of these great objects.
“Treasured Textiles” has aprons of the Blue Lodge, the York Rite, the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite, the French Rite, and foreign countries, and ends with those of non-Masonic bodies like the Odd Fellows.
The exhibit begins with one of the oldest aprons in the entire collection (see above), one from a Blue Lodge. Although it is simple in style and material it is still quite extraordinary for several reasons. The first being its age, about 235 years old! It seems almost impossible this apron survived this long since being leather it is easily susceptible to deterioration. It must have been well cared for to survive intact. As it is most likely lambskin, it would have been cherished by its owner and obviously by those who have owned it subsequently. The next would be the cut of the apron itself. It is quite small when compared to other aprons, but also has a delicate shape that later aprons do not possess.
The Blue Lodge section goes on to showcase aprons representing a variety of styles, dates, and backgrounds. For example, we have a beautifully engraved and painted apron of fine white silk. The apron is engraved with the symbols of Freemasonry that Jeremy Cross made so popular in The True Masonic Chart (see front cover, May-June 2005 Scottish Rite Journal). This apron is a wonderful example of Masonic symbols, the technology for printing them on aprons, and the materials used in finer aprons. Juxtaposed with this manufactured apron is one that we regard as a folk apron. The apron is also silk, but not as high a quality, and rather than painting and engraving to replicate the symbols, this apron uses glass and ceramic beads. The manner in which the symbols are made tells us a novice created it, as also does the beading itself. What these two aprons demonstrate is the different styles and methods being used on simultaneously in America: one with professionally engraved plates and skilled painters in a workshop, and the other by a woman at home with only freehand drawings and limited beading skills.
The next section is aprons of the York Rite, where we have displayed eight aprons. One of those is a beautiful satin apron from the late 19th century. This apron is embroidered with the jewel of the Royal Arch High priest (see right) and trimmed with red satin. We also have displayed with it some various jewels of the High Priest, to demonstrate other examples of the emblem itself.
Aprons of the Scottish Rite are next in the exhibit. Included are aprons from the Lodge of Perfection dating to the mid 1800s. Both of the Lodge of Perfection aprons were donated to us by Ill. Fred Webber, 33°, Secretary General 1886–1907. Also included in this section are two beautifully and ornately embroidered Rose Croix aprons. A detail of one appears at right.
Next, the exhibit explores the aprons of the French Rite. These aprons are some of the most lavish and meticulously embroidered of the whole collection. The French used the finest silks not only to make their aprons but also to embroider them. The “Golden Temple Apron” (see below right) from 1860–80 epitomizes these qualities. The other amazing asset of this apron is that it has stayed in such good condition. The colors are still so brilliant, and the metallic elements untarnished.
We also decided to display some aprons from other foreign jurisdictions including Scotland, England, and Ireland. One of the oldest aprons in the collection is displayed here. It is an English or possibly Irish apron from 1770–90 with a unique bell shape. Also displayed is a very unusual green apron from England and an apron of the Swedish Rite (see image below).
