Old collar jewels

[wm5806]

Here's another for you enthusiasts:

A Past Master's collar jewel from the days of the Antients.

Silver, hallmarked 1812 with a maker's mark of I.R., measuring 105mm across by 95mm high (4.13" by 3.74" for those used to different units). Sadly not engraved.

Am slowly running out of treasures to show you . Let's see some of the nice enamels other members must have!

Yrs etc

WM5806

[attachmentid=22041]

[wm5806]

And another!

This time in brass. No markings and fractionally larger than the last. Some evidence of repairs, but many, many years ago and performed quite crudely by rivetting a plate on the back - I reckon it adds to it's character!

Similar sort of age, I imagine.

YS&F

WM5806

[attachmentid=22042]

[Mike Dwyer]

Here's another for you enthusiasts:

A Past Master's collar jewel from the days of the Antients.

Silver, hallmarked 1812 with a maker's mark of I.R., measuring 105mm across by 95mm high (4.13" by 3.74" for those used to different units). Sadly not engraved.

Am slowly running out of treasures to show you . Let's see some of the nice enamels other members must have!

Yrs etc

WM5806

[attachmentid=22041]

That is the same past master's jewel that is still in use in the state of Georgia, USA. Most American lodges use another version that also has the square above the arc, but Georgia past masters are supposed to use one just like yours. Sometimes they're hard to find, so many past masters use the same as everyone else. Most Masonic jewelry dealers here in the USA stock past master's jewels in gold, but in Georgia only Grand Lodge officers use gold, lodge officer's jewels are supposed to be in silver.

[wm5806]

Hi Mike

As you have probably gathered, Freemasonry in England and Wales (Scotland and Ireland have their own arrangements) is organised quite differently to the US. Although the we are quite small in land mass, we are quite densely populated and our Grand Lodge is broken down into Provinces before you get to the individual, or Private, Lodges. As such, although I am in the Lodge of St Peter in Exeter (number 5806), it is part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire which, in turn, is then part of the United Grand Lodge of England - united because we united the 'Antients' and 'Moderns' in 1813.

Both our Provincial and Grand Lodge officers wear gold jewels, with many of the senior Provincial Officers holding Grand offices in their own right, all but two private Lodges wear jewels of silver. The only two exceptions to this are Lodge of Antiquity (number 2) and British Lodge (number 8), I think.

I do not know the original reason for this - perhaps Kgard or one of the other senior members know?

Regards

WM5806

[Mike Dwyer]

WM5806,

Thanks for the reply. I knew that UK Freemasonry was a bit more complicated and organized that US, but not much else. I'm sure you are aware that in the US we don't have a national Grand Lodge over all of the state lodges.

In Georgia (and probably most other US states) we have Masonic Districts. For instance my home lodge, Mount Hermon 304, F & AM, is in the Fourth Masonic District of Georgia. We do not have a district lodge as such, there is no district master, etc., but each district has a District Deputy Grand Master who represent's the Georgia grand master within that district. There are also some other district functionaries too. The DDGM's jewel is gold and his apron is trimmed in gold also, but they are much plainer than those worn by Grand Lodge officers.

I've truly enjoyed this topic area and some of the wonderful items displayed here.