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Lot Essay
This unusually complete collection of Masonic banqueting glass and regalia is being offered for sale by a direct descendent of the original owner. It relates to the fascinating story of the Freemason Brother Henry Halford (b.1790) who travelled from England to America in the early 19th century to pursue his fortune in the cotton trade. While Masonic firing or ‘toasting’ glasses were made in large numbers, services of this extensive type including a variety of shapes are extremely rare survivors. Halford’s glass service would have formed an important part of ‘refreshments’ which were central to ritualistic activities at Masonic meetings. As it would have been an important commission, presumably it may have been ordered to celebrate his elevation to Sublime Degree of Master Mason at the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on 9 May 1831. The certificate which accompanies this collection is signed by senior members of the Lodge.
It is very likely that Halford ordered his service from a glass manufacturer in England or Ireland. English manufacturers had made decanters ‘curiously engrav’d with the Mason’s Arms’ which were readily available in the Colonies as early as 1763.1 By the early 19th century pottery, porcelain and glass were exported on a large scale for sale in the United States, as manufacturers strove to take advantage of this flourishing market. Halford’s service is prolifically engraved with Masonic symbols and devices including: the All Seeing Eye, the Rose Croix Chapter, King Solomon and the Temple of Solomon, Moses, celestial devices, the Square and Compass, Masonic arches and pillars. Similar Masonic symbols are also seen on transfer-printed creamware produced by Wedgwood and on Liverpool and Worcester porcelain of the 1760s. John Sadler and Guy Green’s engraving of ‘The Arms of the Society of Free and Accepted Masons’ appears on Wedgwood Queen’s Ware of the 1760s, pieces of which are also densely packed with similar Masonic symbolism.2 Similarly Robert Hancock’s engraving of the arms of the Grand Lodge which were used on both Worcester porcelain and Christian’s Liverpool also feature Masonic emblems flanked by obelisks and globe monuments.
The emerging and very lucrative prospect of investment in agricultural land and forestry in parts of America gave many aspiring entrepreneurs the impetus to pursue new commercial opportunities there. Archival sources record that after initially declaring his intention to become an American citizen in 1816, Henry Halford eventually became an American citizen on 3 June 1822. His first port of call was New York, where contemporary Masonic records show that he was initiated into the Grand Lodge of New York (Freedom Lodge, No. 179) on 8 October 1818, he was then 'passed' on 12 November and then 'joined' on 10 December 1818. This was followed by his elevation to Master Mason in Philadelphia in 1831. It is not clear why he made the decision to sail back to England; it may have been a result of family circumstances, or it could perhaps have been a result of the financial challenges that some of the Lodges in Philadelphia faced.3 Whatever the reason, this prized group of glassware and regalia returned with him and his family on their voyage back to England in about 1840. Henry Halford returned to live near London as a successful businessman; he died in 1866 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
The aprons which accompany this collection appear to be American in origin and they all date to the first half of the 19th century when Halford was in America. The embroidered silk apron is decorated with Hebrew characters and the Craft of Freemasonry with the additional ceremonies of Mark Masonry and the Royal Arch. The painted leather apron with blue silk trim shows Craft Freemasonry and the printed apron is made from kid leather and shows the Royal Arch. The scene on the printed apron is taken from an engraving produced by the engraver Amos Doolittle of New Haven, New York; a certificate after the same engraving also features in the collection.
It is possible that many of the rummers, decanters and drinking glasses in museum collections were once part of larger services like the present lot. For three similarly engraved Irish Masonic decanters, see Andy McConnell, The Decanter, an Illustrated History of Glass from 1650, Suffolk, 2004, p. 114, pl. 163. There is a similarly engraved English rummer in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass (accession number 79.2.278) which is engraved with the name of its owner.
1. For an English creamware mug printed with these arms see Robin Reilly, Wedgwood, Vol. I, London, 1989, p. 235, pl. 261.
2. Joseph Barrel advertisement in the ‘Boston Gazette’, 11 July 1763, cited by Arlene Palmer in Glass in Early America, New York, 1993, p. 133.
3. In 1826 David Nathans was appointed Grand Lecturer and tasked with inspecting the many Lodges of the city and county of Philadelphia. He found half (thirty-six) were flourishing and around twenty Lodges were either debit-ridden, or had too few members or were mismanaged. In some of these cases, their warrants were recalled. It is possible that Henry Halford’s Lodge faced these challenges. See Wayne A. Huss, The Master Builders, a History of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, Vol. I: 1731-1873, Philadelphia, 1986, pp. 117-118.
It is very likely that Halford ordered his service from a glass manufacturer in England or Ireland. English manufacturers had made decanters ‘curiously engrav’d with the Mason’s Arms’ which were readily available in the Colonies as early as 1763.1 By the early 19th century pottery, porcelain and glass were exported on a large scale for sale in the United States, as manufacturers strove to take advantage of this flourishing market. Halford’s service is prolifically engraved with Masonic symbols and devices including: the All Seeing Eye, the Rose Croix Chapter, King Solomon and the Temple of Solomon, Moses, celestial devices, the Square and Compass, Masonic arches and pillars. Similar Masonic symbols are also seen on transfer-printed creamware produced by Wedgwood and on Liverpool and Worcester porcelain of the 1760s. John Sadler and Guy Green’s engraving of ‘The Arms of the Society of Free and Accepted Masons’ appears on Wedgwood Queen’s Ware of the 1760s, pieces of which are also densely packed with similar Masonic symbolism.2 Similarly Robert Hancock’s engraving of the arms of the Grand Lodge which were used on both Worcester porcelain and Christian’s Liverpool also feature Masonic emblems flanked by obelisks and globe monuments.
The emerging and very lucrative prospect of investment in agricultural land and forestry in parts of America gave many aspiring entrepreneurs the impetus to pursue new commercial opportunities there. Archival sources record that after initially declaring his intention to become an American citizen in 1816, Henry Halford eventually became an American citizen on 3 June 1822. His first port of call was New York, where contemporary Masonic records show that he was initiated into the Grand Lodge of New York (Freedom Lodge, No. 179) on 8 October 1818, he was then 'passed' on 12 November and then 'joined' on 10 December 1818. This was followed by his elevation to Master Mason in Philadelphia in 1831. It is not clear why he made the decision to sail back to England; it may have been a result of family circumstances, or it could perhaps have been a result of the financial challenges that some of the Lodges in Philadelphia faced.3 Whatever the reason, this prized group of glassware and regalia returned with him and his family on their voyage back to England in about 1840. Henry Halford returned to live near London as a successful businessman; he died in 1866 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
The aprons which accompany this collection appear to be American in origin and they all date to the first half of the 19th century when Halford was in America. The embroidered silk apron is decorated with Hebrew characters and the Craft of Freemasonry with the additional ceremonies of Mark Masonry and the Royal Arch. The painted leather apron with blue silk trim shows Craft Freemasonry and the printed apron is made from kid leather and shows the Royal Arch. The scene on the printed apron is taken from an engraving produced by the engraver Amos Doolittle of New Haven, New York; a certificate after the same engraving also features in the collection.
It is possible that many of the rummers, decanters and drinking glasses in museum collections were once part of larger services like the present lot. For three similarly engraved Irish Masonic decanters, see Andy McConnell, The Decanter, an Illustrated History of Glass from 1650, Suffolk, 2004, p. 114, pl. 163. There is a similarly engraved English rummer in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass (accession number 79.2.278) which is engraved with the name of its owner.
1. For an English creamware mug printed with these arms see Robin Reilly, Wedgwood, Vol. I, London, 1989, p. 235, pl. 261.
2. Joseph Barrel advertisement in the ‘Boston Gazette’, 11 July 1763, cited by Arlene Palmer in Glass in Early America, New York, 1993, p. 133.
3. In 1826 David Nathans was appointed Grand Lecturer and tasked with inspecting the many Lodges of the city and county of Philadelphia. He found half (thirty-six) were flourishing and around twenty Lodges were either debit-ridden, or had too few members or were mismanaged. In some of these cases, their warrants were recalled. It is possible that Henry Halford’s Lodge faced these challenges. See Wayne A. Huss, The Master Builders, a History of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, Vol. I: 1731-1873, Philadelphia, 1986, pp. 117-118.