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    A real Jewel for collectors


    wm5806

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    Gentlemen and Brethren,

    I have attached a picture of a jewel, highly prized among collectors, and reasonably rare. It is the pendant part of a Royal Arch Chapter member's jewel in silver-gilt and hallmarked for London in 1824, made by Thomas Harper.

    Harper was not only a skilled silversmith whose mark was registered in 1790, but also an important Mason, rising very quickly through some of Freemasonry's highest offices: Junior Grand Warden (1785), Joint Grand Secretary (1792-1795), Deputy Grand Secretary (1797-1800), Deputy Grand Master (1801-1813; Antients). I believe that he was also responsible for the design of this jewel, which continues on nearly 200 years later. It would appear that these jewels formed much of his output, although examples of many other jewels for different degrees are well documented.

    Thomas Harper is so highly respected amongst scholars of Masonic jewels that a research Lodge was formed and named after him, dedicated to original research in the field of Masonic jewels.

    Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, this particular jewel was presented to, or owned by John Huyshe, a Provincial Grand Master of Devonshire in the 19th Century and whose name can just be made out on the uppermost horizontal bar of the six-pointed star (other side, pictured in next post). Indeed a unique item!

    My apologies for the scan, which I had to produce in greyscale in order to retain the detail whilst keeping the file size to a minimum. The jewel iteself is (as stated) gilded silver and appears as a lovely, aged honey colour.

    Sincerely yours,

    WM5806

    [attachmentid=21764]

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    Sorry guys,

    Just one more to show you this week! Another Harper from 1824 in what I am told was the original design for the Royal Arch jewel, and is still used in Scotland. I was told that the difference is that one has "We have found" engraved on it and the other has "We have found it", but not so sure about that.

    [attachmentid=21802]

    Hope y'all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing some of the other members' 'little treasures'!

    Sincerely yours,

    WM5806

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    Whilst visiting an old Lodge (founded more than 250 years ago) last evening, I chanced upon their officers' collars hanging from a peg in the Robing Room. Somewhat akin to Lovejoy, my brow turned feverish and my legs went wobbly as I passed.

    Closer inspection revealed an old 'gallows-style' Past Master's jewel on their IPM's collar made with the very distinct and heart-stopping maker's mark of TH. Although nowhere near a full set, there were others too!

    I am hoping to get permission to photograph them for the records of our Provincial museum, but perhaps also for publication to such specialist audiences as this one.

    Keep your eyes peeled, as you don't know what you might see as you go around.

    Kind regards,

    WM5806

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    Thank you Kgard

    A whole galaxy of Thomas Harper jewels may be seen on the Jewels of the Craft website (which I have the honour of managing) at Thomas Harper jewels, as well as a further biography on the Thomas Harper biography page.

    Whilst you're over there, there are many other, more modern, jewels illustrated.

    Kindest regards

    WM5806

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    Wow! Another one!

    Even without seeing the hallmark or the maker's name on the other side, I can tell it's likely to be a Harper as he numbered all his Chapter jewels and you can just see the number '287' on the lower right swag.

    Not sure if your question marks are to indicate a discrepancy between the AL and AD dates? If so, then it was common for the AL date to be derived by adding 4004 years to the AD - it seems we just got lazy and didn't bother about the odd four years, only adding 4000 in recent times.

    Lovely jewel......!

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    Pretty sure not by Chapter number, as the Huyshe one is numbered '900' and there can't have been that many Chapters then. So, my best guess is that they were numbered sequentially, as made.

    Would be fascinated to know how much they cost new, in those days....

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    WM...I thought the same, Chapters being attached to a Lodge and taking the Lodge number...Rule of thumb Lodge/Chapter's numbered 230 to 360 are dated around 1800 to 1820's.

    The date and numbering of TH's jewels:

    1805....287...There is a Lodge, consecrated 1792 with an attached Chapter

    1817....263...There is a Lodge, consecrated 1788, no Chapter

    1827....900...There is a Lodge, consecrated 1861 with an attached Chapter, but Th was long gone be now.

    Am I missing something and putting a size 8 between my teeth...K

    No, Kgard, you're not missing anything, unless we are BOTH missing something. Certainly, your post above throws my theory out of the window, as why would he produce a jewel in 1805 and number it 287, and then number one that was produced 12 years later with a number that was 24 places before the former - doesn't make sense!

    However - and amongst all this you have to remember that the Lodges were renumbered in 1792, 1814, 1832 and 1863 - I don't think that there were 900 Lodges (by 1827) to which a Chapter could be attached. Looking at Lane's Masonic Records, the last Lodge to be warranted in 1827 was Aurora Lodge of Candour and Cordiality (then) numbered 816, the warrant being awarded on 6 October of that year, although they merged with another Lodge a few years later. The best I can do to put it into context is state that the subsequent Lodge to be warranted was Albany Lodge (3 Jan 1828) and which was numbered 817, renumbered 545 in 1832 and finally coming to rest as 389 (in 1863), the number it still carries to this day.

    So, we have jointly blown both those ideas out of the water, has anyone else out there any better ideas?

    Edited by wm5806
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    Could it be TH made these jewels, numbered them as created, then dated them when sold or presented. As pointed out these would never be cheap and many I suspect would be used for special presentations...only a theory

    Possibly numbered them prior to selling them, but if he had done that, then he would have had to gild them after all the engraving was done (incl. this number), I would have thought. Dates (as far as I have checked) all tie in with their hallmarks, so dates are when made (or at least assayed).

    Will have to see if anyone else knows - I've just about run out of ideas!

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    That would mean though that he didn't have them assayed or gilded until their sale, which seems unlikely to me (IMHO).

    Can't think of anything that ties in with engraved dates, numbers and assay office dates.

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    • 1 month later...
    • 1 year later...

    What size is the "greyscale" one.

    Alan 5683

    It's a very healthy 51mm by 81mm (2 inches wide by about 3.2 inches high).

    By comparison, the 'standard' Chapter jewel sold currently in England is 1 inch across, and the 'large' size is 1.25 inches.

    Hope that helps,

    Richard

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