- Title:
- Tracing board for Royal Arch Freemasonry by John Harris depicting the ruined temple and vault, coloured print contained within a gilded wooden frame, circa 1862.
- Object name(s):
- Prints; Tracing board, Royal Arch Freemasonry
- Brief description:
- Hand painted printed tracing board depicting the ruined Temple and the vault buried below, inside a guilded wooden frame with an inner mount also in gilded wood. There is a wooden backing board with remains of gummed paper tape and two brass loop hanging fittings secured to the frame edges.
- Collection:
- Museum of Freemasonry
- Acquisition method:
- Donation
- Associated concept:
- Tracing boards--Royal Arch Freemasonry--England
- Associated person:
- Harris, John, 1791-1873, Designer
- Associated person:
- Spencer, Richard, Publisher
- Associated person:
- Jeffkins, John
- Comments:
- The principles of freemasonry are communicated by the use of symbols during the ceremonies and by illustrated lectures following the ceremonies themselves. Early lodges would draw these symbols on the floor of the lodge room and wash them off after the meeting. By the late 1700s other methods were being used including floor cloths and symbolic tablets for placing on the master’s pedestal. From the early 1800s the standard form was a set of three tracing boards each illustrating one of the three ceremonies. These could be of any size and material. Royal Arch chapters do not generally employ tracing boards, but some older chapters do possess them. These examples were produced by designer and printer John Harris along with his Craft tracing boards, but were not adopted as the former were.
- Content - description:
- Seal of Solomon, Altar, Vault, Temple, Ruin, Column, Pick, Crowbar, Shovel, Landscape, Trees, Mountain, Signs of the Zodiac, Chequered pavement, Scroll
- Dimension:
- (Within frame) H: 278 W: 179 D: 29 Dia: n/a Wt: n/a
- Entry date:
- n/k
- Inscription content:
- 'Des. & Drawn on Stone by Com. I. Harris, P.Z.' printed in lower left border of image.
- Inscription content:
- 'Published by Comp'n. Rich'd Spencer' printed below image.
- Inscription content:
- In pencil on reverse of wooden backing board 'John Jeffkins / 1862'
- Object name:
- Prints; Tracing board, Royal Arch Freemasonry
- Object number:
- M2015/1324
- Object production date:
- 1862 (circa)
- Object production place:
- England
- Related object number:
- 62762679
- Related object note:
- Related object database number
- Reproduction format:
- Digital image
- Technique:
- Printed
- Technique:
- Painted
- Technique:
- Woodwork
- Technique:
- Gilded
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/24eb1c7b-9f99-3e66-878e-5acfc85e28e4
Use licence for this record: CC BY
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/24eb1c7b-9f99-3e66-878e-5acfc85e28e4, Museum of Freemasonry, CC BY
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