Freemasonry has always attracted men of great skill in the crafts. Probably one of the most famous was Thomas Harper, Deputy Grand Master of the Antients Grand Lodge from 1801 to 1813, who created large pierced jewels of exquisite beauty. Any masonic museum which holds examples of his work has readily displayed them. And this is the rub: museums are always keen to show such high value and well-crafted silver, gold, or ceramic objects; the less valuable pieces representing the craft skills of amateurs or artisans are not commonly shown. In particular, wooden objects do not seem to have received the attention they deserve. Many, perhaps because of their mundane nature, remain in storerooms; others are unnoticed or unmarked as something special and remain in use in Lodge rooms around the country.
    Certainly they are appreciated by those Lodge officers who use them or the Tylers who arrange them but they are rarely studied methodically. They are seen as simple masonic tools to be used, sometimes for centuries, their commercial or artistic value as antiques ignored in the face of their greater value as a part of Lodge tradition. And, perhaps as a result of their constant use in the Lodge, all too often little is remembered of their origins, of who made them or of the conditions under which they were bought by the Lodge or presented to it.
    Over the years, many such objects have been given to the United Grand Lodge of England; some are displayed but space being always limited many were placed in store. It could also have been that certain of the pieces, being concerned with aspects of ritual symbolism, were considered too sensitive to be placed on open display. Happily today we are rather bolder in our desire to show the richness of masonic craftsmanship to the world and to allow these pieces to find their rightful place in the history of English art and craft.

Viewing the store room

When Mark Dennis, Curator of the Museum of Freemasonry in Freemasons’ Hall, London, was first appointed, one of his early actions was to take a look in the store-room. He stepped inside and was stopped in his tracks; he commented afterwards that he felt rather like Lord Carnarvon entering Tutankamun’s tomb - well, at least a little like him - for before him sat shelf after shelf of treasures all carefully preserved, placed side by side, as he said, ‘with not a millimetre between them’. It was the most diverse range of objects he had ever seen in his museum career. He was particularly struck by a number of wooden objects, which displayed a skill at Marquetry, fretwork or pokerwork.
    It happened that a new carpenter had also come to work at Freemasons’ Hall and so Mark decided to get some of the pieces out, show them to the carpenter, and gain his opinion. The carpenter was impressed and immediately enthused over the level of craftsmanship which they represented. So Mark decided to bring a display together, one of ‘Craftsmanship serving the Craft’. A cabinet to the right of the entrance to the Museum was cleared and a display mounted of these wooden objects drawn from the store.
    The museum is now bringing more and more objects out of store in order to support the thematic displays which are now becoming a feature of the Museum. In the future we can expect to see many more artefacts which have not been on display for many years, if indeed, ever.