Masonic charity jewels
Masonic charity jewels are badges associated with donations, fundraising service or particular charitable appeals. In Masonic usage, a jewel is a badge or insignia; the word does not necessarily mean a gemstone. Charity jewels form one part of the wider history of Masonic regalia.[1][2]
The Grand Lodge Charity Jewel
The Grand Lodge Charity Jewel, also called the Sussex Jewel, was instituted in 1830. The British Museum's catalogue, drawing on Mark Jones's study of William Wyon, associates it with service as a steward for both the boys' and girls' Masonic institutions. It was a continuing charitable distinction, separate from the badge of a single year's festival.[3]
The museum holds a bronze example of Wyon's design, measuring 35 millimetres across. It depicts Charity with two children: a girl carrying a bonnet and a kneeling boy holding a book. An eye within a triangle appears above them. The reverse carries an inscription naming the Duke of Sussex, with the square and compasses below.[3]
Festival badges
Museum collections preserve badges for particular Masonic charity festivals, sometimes marked Steward or with another fundraising title. The Worcestershire catalogue records examples for the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys from the nineteenth century onwards. Dates, institutional names and provincial associations help distinguish one appeal's badge from another.[2]
The illustrated 1923 jewel has a ship attached to a pale blue ribbon and an enamelled pendant naming the boys' institution. Its pendant and ship match a museum example catalogued for the Essex festival of that year. The photographed example lacks the upper Steward bar shown on the museum specimen.[4]
Modern appeals also use jewels to recognise support. Warwickshire's 2023 Festival booklet offered individual awards named Steward, Vice-Patron, Patron and Grand Patron, alongside separate lodge certificates. These were fundraising distinctions within that appeal, rather than degrees or appointments to lodge office.[5]
Other fundraising jewels
The Royal Masonic Hospital appeal used a jewel showing the allegorical figure of Humanity assisting the sick, with a blue ribbon and a star above the badge.[6]
The Masonic Million Memorial Fund issued Hall Stone jewels for contributions to the new London headquarters and war memorial. Individual, lodge and provincial or district awards were supplemented by a separate Special Collector's jewel.[7]
Miniatures and collarettes
Charitable insignia also survive in forms other than full-sized breast badges. The Worcestershire museum lists a set of three miniatures combining a charity jewel, Hall Stone jewel and hospital jewel, and a Mark Benevolent Fund collarette with bars covering 1920–1937. Its catalogue records these as separate objects, retaining information about their form and association.[8]
Related articles
- Masonic charity festivals
- History of Masonic regalia
- Charitable Support
- Masonic museums and libraries
References
- ↑ Museum of Freemasonry, Bejewelled: Badges, Brotherhood and Identity, exhibition, 20 September–21 December 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Worcestershire Museum of Freemasonry, RMIB Jewels, object catalogue.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 British Museum, medal, museum number M.6056, description and curator's comments citing Mark Jones, William Wyon (2025), pp. 277–278.
- ↑ Worcestershire Museum of Freemasonry, object 1932/69.161, catalogue record and photograph; Wikimedia Commons photograph by AndyScott.
- ↑ Masonic Charitable Foundation and Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire, Warwickshire 2023 Festival Appeal, printed pp. 8–10.
- ↑ Museum of Freemasonry, Nurses and Queens.
- ↑ Museum of Freemasonry, The Hall Stone story.
- ↑ Worcestershire Museum of Freemasonry, Charity Jewels, objects 1960/13.9 and 1960/13.66.
| Explore the Freemasonry Wiki: Full article index · All articles · All categories · Random article |