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Artist unidentified, “Fraternal Staff,” United States, 1860–1900, Paint and gold leaf on wood, …
Fraternal Staff
Artist unidentified, “Fraternal Staff,” United States, 1860–1900, Paint and gold leaf on wood, …
Artist unidentified, “Fraternal Staff,” United States, 1860–1900, Paint and gold leaf on wood, 40 1/2 × 4 × 3 1/4 in., Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift of Kendra and Allan Daniel, 2015.1.144. Photo by José Andrés Ramírez.
Record Details

Fraternal Staff

Date1860–1900
MediumPaint and gold leaf on wood
Dimensions40 1/2 × 4 × 3 1/4"
Credit LineGift of Kendra and Allan Daniel
Accession number2015.1.144
Description

This staff has a form and style that strongly suggest it was used by a fraternal group; however, it is not marked with any specific symbols or inscriptions, so we are left to wonder who originally used it. Several catalogs for nineteenth-century regalia companies illustrate scepters that would have been carried by various characters, often kings, in the rituals. Such sources—regalia catalogs, old photographs, published histories and monitors (ritual guidebooks), and other ephemera—help to identify and interpret fraternal objects that are removed from their original contexts.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Fraternal Staff," exhibition label for Mystery and Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art from the Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2016.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. 

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