Masonic Apron

Dateca.1812 in printing; apron 1812-1820

Worn by Henry Alberti Tarrall

Printer Thomas Kensett

OriginAmerica, Connecticut; used in Virginia, Norfolk

MediumPrinted silk with linen lining, silk tape, and silk ribbon

DimensionsOW: 14"; OL: 15 3/4"

Credit LineGift of Lawrence H. Redford

Object number1986-193

DescriptionThis is a rectangular Masonic apron made of cream silk satin, printed with Masonic designs, and edged with gathered red silk ribbon. It is lined with plain-weave linen. The ties and top binding are of faded red silk tape. The apron is decorated with printed Masonic symbols consisting of the "all-seeing" eye on the rounded flap and on the body of the apron a symmetrical design of columns topped with globes, which enclose symbolic elements, including altar, winged female emblematic figures, sun, moon, stars, anchor, trowel, and scales. Printed inscriptions on the apron are: "Hail! heavenly Virtue! thine's a Sacred flame!", "SILENCE AND CIRCUMSPECTION"; AND "The Master's Carpet compleat." The apron is signed and dated: "T. Kensett Ches[hir]e Connect", "copyright [secured]", "Sculpsit et edidit/ MDCCCXII."
Label TextMasonic aprons, such as this one with a history of ownership in Norfolk, 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 design for this printed apron is from Thomas Kensett's engraved apron titled, "Master's Carpet Compleat," published in Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1812. The red apron trim indicates that the apron was used in Royal Arch Masonry, a higher degree than the basic three degrees of blue lodge Freemasonry.
Inscribed"The Master's Carpet compleat"
"SILENCE AND CIRCUMSPECTION"
"Hail! heavenly Virtue! thine's a Sacred flame!"
ProvenanceUsed in Norfolk, Virginia by at least one of the donor's ancestors.