Freemasons belong to an oath-bound, secret fraternity, the purpose of which is to develop sound moral and social virtues among its members and humankind. Its origins were in seventeenth-century England, and by the 1730s lodges were established in the American colonies. Many of the founding fathers of the United States, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and their French ally the marquis de Lafayette, became members. The past master’s jewel was regarded as both regalia and personal memento. Its design varied, and this example, its radiant sun framed within a square and quadrant, is patterned after one used in Scottish lodges. This unmarked jewel, presented by Dubuque Lodge No. 3, may have been supplied by John Eugene Smith, who worked in nearby Galena.

Related examples: Hamilton 1994, pp. 134–39, nos. 4.38–4.41, 4.43–4.45. 

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.