Master Mason Certificate, 1796
This certificate proclaimed “To all Brethren through the world” that Samuel Derby had received the Master Mason degree at Essex Lodge in Salem, Massachusetts. A note inked on the certificate’s back shows that Derby, a mariner, used his certificate to visit a Dutch lodge in Suriname. This certificate’s design reflected Essex Lodge’s many seafaring members’ interest in the world; the four allegorical figures at the bottom represent the continents of Africa, America, Asia and Europe.