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Our Motto
John W. Dorrington, 1843 - 1916
Photo by José Andrés Ramírez
Our Motto
Our Motto
John W. Dorrington, 1843 - 1916
Photo by José Andrés Ramírez
Our Motto John W. Dorrington, 1843 - 1916 Photo by José Andrés Ramírez
Record Details

Our Motto

Artist ((1843–1916))
Datec. 1883
Place/RegionBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumChromolithograph on paper
DimensionsSheet: 22 1/2 x 19 1/2 " (57.2 x 49.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Kendra and Allan Daniel
Accession number2015.1.90
CopyrightThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.
Description

Brightly colored decorative prints were widely popular by the end of the nineteenth century. A framed fraternal print hanging on the wall signified one’s identity with the group and reminded the member of the lessons that he learned in the lodge. Our Motto was produced for Odd Fellows and shows an attractive arrangement of the fraternity’s symbols. An all-seeing eye at top looks down on a three-link chain and a hand extending from the left holds a heart and a rendering of a scene from their ritual stories showing the biblical figures of Jonathan and David. A bundle of sticks lies on top of an open Bible that sits on an altar. Additional symbols appear in the black oval border. The work was published by Frank W. Parkhurst in Boston, probably around 1883. Parkhurst’s status as an Odd Fellow is not known; however, he did become a Freemason in 1882 and was a member of Fitchburg’s Charles W. Moore Lodge.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Our Motto," 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.

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