Master Mason Certificate, 1854

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Master Mason Certificate, 1854
Issued to John G. Robinson, Solar Lodge, No. 14, Bath, Maine
Engraved by William B. Annin (1791-1839) and George Girdler Smith (1795-1878), Boston, Massachusetts
Museum Purchase, A89/033/001

In the early 1820s, engravers William Annin and George Girdler Smith designed this certificate. The Grand Lodge of Maine used the design for decades. In addition to the vertical signature of the holder near the column on the left, the certificate bears signatures of the officers of his lodge in the top section and that of the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Maine, representing the governing body of Freemasonry in the state, in the lower section.