Embedded Files
Aprons from 1840 to 1865
During the 1840s and 1850s, the design and decoration of Masonic aprons underwent a change. Masonic authorities, perhaps reacting to the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1830s when many lodges closed and men left Freemasonry in large numbers, began to steer members away from highly decorated aprons. They set new standards for aprons and regalia. These standards privileged uniformity and favored more sparsely embellished aprons. One Masonic writer articulated this trend, noting that “Dandyism would be as much out of place at Masonic meetings, as indifference and negligence in dress.”
While this apron on the right has the square body and triangular flap that became practically universal by the late 1800s, it still exhibits the hand-painted decoration and silver trim that were popular on older aprons. The tabs on the apron front represent the ends of the secured ties found on earlier styles of aprons. The combination of old and new elements on this apron demonstrates that change in apron style and decoration took place gradually.
Master Mason Apron, 1845–1860.United States Gift of Jacques Noel Jacobsen Jr., 94.011.5a
Scottish Rite Consistory Apron, 1830-1850Probably MassachusettsGift of the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA, 78.57.3
Master Mason Apron, 1854–1865United StatesMuseum Purchase, 2014.033.10
Master Mason Apron, ca. 1860Probably KentuckyGift of Laura J. Manson, 2004.022
A Proud Tradition
A Proud Tradition
Each of these Freemasons proudly wears an apron, either alone or with a beloved family member. In choosing to be photographed in their aprons, these men proclaimed that their membership in these groups was an important part of their self-identity.
Man and Woman, ca. 1850Probably MaineSpecial Acquisitions Fund, 83.19
Three Fraternal Brothers, ca. 1850United StatesSpecial Acquisitions Fund, 84.6
The figure at the center wears a Masonic apron decorated with Masonic symbols. The man at the far right of this photograph wears an Independent Order of Odd Fellows apron.
Royal Arch Member, 1850–1860United StatesMuseum Purchase with the assistance of the Kane Lodge Foundation, 2010.010
This daguerreotype shows a Royal Arch member wearing a colorful apron and sash. His boldly colored apron shows a design incorporating many elements similar to an apron displayed nearby.
Color and Design
Color and Design
The muted colors employed in the decoration of this apron, especially in the land and sky surrounding the arrangement of Masonic symbols, suggest that the artist who painted this apron was informed by a popular form of printing that emerged in the mid-1800s, chromolithography.
The palette of soft colors selected for the painting on this apron resembles the palette used in chromolithographs. This Masonic chart was printed using chromolithography.
Masonic Chart, 1866 Master Mason Apron, 1850–1870J.H. Bufford’s Sons United States Boston, Massachusetts Gift of David B. Richardson, 96.002.2 Gift of Alan G. Wright, 80.36
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