Masonic Apron

Dateca. 1815

OriginAmerica, West Virginia, Monroe County

MediumPaint, applied gold, graphite, and localized varnish on silk with silk ribbon and cotton or linen backing (material identification by eye)

DimensionsOH: 21 1/4" x OW: 17"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2022-66

DescriptionThis is a Masonic apron consisting of a rounded rectangular shape of white silk with Masonic symbols painted in green, orange, brown, black, and yellow with applied gold, graphite, and localized varnish. At the top of the apron is a flap with a pleated pale blue silk ribbon on the bottom edge and sides, and a flat ribbon at top. Centered on the apron flap is an all-seeing eye. Below the flap are a pair of pillars connected by an arch. The plinths of the pillars are decorated with cornucopias filled with fruit. Sitting atop the pillars are a celestial and a terrestrial globe. Centered below the arch is a large gold "G." Flanking the "G" is a sun to the left and a crescent moon to the right. The apron is filled with scattered Masonic symbols including: a sword pointing to a heart; beehive; pot of burning incense; ark and dove; level; altar; ladder with letters "C" for charity, "H" for hope, and "F" for faith; anchor; hour glass; Book of Constitutions guarded by the tiler's sword; clasped hands (Mason's grips); point within a circle and parallel lines; Bible; sprig of Acacia; five stars; mosaic pavement; and three candles.
The apron is trimmed in a pleated pale blue silk ribbon at sides and bottom, and a flat ribbon at top.
Faux flap: OH: 5 7/8"
Gathered ribbon: OW: 3/4"
Label TextMasonic aprons, such as this one owned by a member of the Dickson Family of Monroe County, Virginia (now West Virginia), were an important element of the fraternal regalia of the society of Freemasonry. They were worn at Masonic ceremonies. Based on the protective leather aprons worn by stonemasons of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, early nineteenth-centuries ones were often ornately decorated in paint, print, or embroidery with symbolic designs.

The Dickson Family were members of the Greenbrier Lodge #42 A. F. & A. M., which was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Virginia in Lewisburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) on December 5, 1796. It is the oldest Masonic lodge west of the Allegheny Mountains.
ProvenanceThe former owner provided the following history:
"from the Dickson family of Sink's Grove, WV. The Dickson were members of the Greenbrier Lodge #42 A. F. & A. M. which was chartered at Lewisburg, WV on December 5, 1796."