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The tracing board is a painted or printed board sometimes displayed during a ritual (Degree) of [[Freemasonry]]. Its purpose is to illustrate the symbols that the initiate is informed about during lectures that succeed the ritual proper, and which in [[England]] are sometimes referred to as the "tracing board lecture".{{Fact|date=March 2008}} |
The tracing board is a painted or printed board sometimes displayed during a ritual (Degree) of [[Freemasonry]]. Its purpose is to illustrate the symbols that the initiate is informed about during lectures that succeed the ritual proper, and which in [[England]] are sometimes referred to as the "tracing board lecture".{{Fact|date=March 2008}} |
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The Masonic tracing board took several decades to develop into its pictorial form. Initially a drawing was made on the floor of the hired tavern room in which a Masonic Lodge had met, the work being executed either by the [[Tyler (Masonic)|Tyler]] or [[Worshipful Master]].<ref>"The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916)</ref> Evidence suggests that a simple boundary in the shape of a square, rectangle (or "double square"), or a cross was drawn first, with various [[Masonic symbols]] of a geometric type (e.g., circle, pentagram, etc.) were drawn later, the former possibly being drawn by the Tyler and the latter by the Master. Later various objects, such as a (ladder, beehive, etc.,) were added.<ref>"The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916)</ref> |
The Masonic tracing board took several decades to develop into its pictorial form. Initially a drawing was made on the floor of the hired tavern room in which a Masonic Lodge had met, the work being executed either by the [[Tyler (Masonic)|Tyler]] or [[Worshipful Master]].<ref>"The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916) pg 243</ref> Evidence suggests that a simple boundary in the shape of a square, rectangle (or "double square"), or a cross was drawn first, with various [[Masonic symbols]] of a geometric type (e.g., circle, pentagram, etc.) were drawn later, the former possibly being drawn by the Tyler and the latter by the Master. Later various objects, such as a (ladder, beehive, etc.,) were added.<ref>"The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916) pg 244</ref> |
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By the second half of the [[eighteenth century]] the Masonic symbols were being painted on a variety of materials ranging from small marble slabs to canvas, though the various [[Grand Lodge]]s were then generally hostile to the creation of physical representations of the Ritual and symbols of the Craft. prior to the development of the upright-standing tracing board such as is used today a "floor cloth" displaying a degree's symbols was common, and remains to some extent in the use of a cloth depicting the grave of [[Hiram Abiff]] and a sprig of [[acacia]] in the third degree of Freemasonry.<ref>"Tracing Boards–Their Development and Their Designers" by T.O. Haunch in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.75 (1962)</ref> |
By the second half of the [[eighteenth century]] the Masonic symbols were being painted on a variety of materials ranging from small marble slabs to canvas, though the various [[Grand Lodge]]s were then generally hostile to the creation of physical representations of the Ritual and symbols of the Craft. prior to the development of the upright-standing tracing board such as is used today a "floor cloth" displaying a degree's symbols was common, and remains to some extent in the use of a cloth depicting the grave of [[Hiram Abiff]] and a sprig of [[acacia]] in the third degree of Freemasonry.<ref>"Tracing Boards–Their Development and Their Designers" by T.O. Haunch in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.75 (1962)</ref> |
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Revision as of 20:21, 27 September 2008
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Template:Freemasonry2 The tracing board is a painted or printed board sometimes displayed during a ritual (Degree) of Freemasonry. Its purpose is to illustrate the symbols that the initiate is informed about during lectures that succeed the ritual proper, and which in England are sometimes referred to as the "tracing board lecture".[citation needed]
The Masonic tracing board took several decades to develop into its pictorial form. Initially a drawing was made on the floor of the hired tavern room in which a Masonic Lodge had met, the work being executed either by the Tyler or Worshipful Master.[1] Evidence suggests that a simple boundary in the shape of a square, rectangle (or "double square"), or a cross was drawn first, with various Masonic symbols of a geometric type (e.g., circle, pentagram, etc.) were drawn later, the former possibly being drawn by the Tyler and the latter by the Master. Later various objects, such as a (ladder, beehive, etc.,) were added.[2]
By the second half of the eighteenth century the Masonic symbols were being painted on a variety of materials ranging from small marble slabs to canvas, though the various Grand Lodges were then generally hostile to the creation of physical representations of the Ritual and symbols of the Craft. prior to the development of the upright-standing tracing board such as is used today a "floor cloth" displaying a degree's symbols was common, and remains to some extent in the use of a cloth depicting the grave of Hiram Abiff and a sprig of acacia in the third degree of Freemasonry.[3]
In 1820 Bro. John Harris created tracing boards for the first three Degrees of the Craft, establishing them as an accepted, though unofficial part of Craft Freemasonry in England.[1] The tracing board became a near-essential piece of equipment for Masonic Lodges in Britain, continental Europe, Australia and elsewhere. As different Masonic jurisdictions established official, or standard, Degree rituals the creation of new tracing boards by Freemasons waned and has since all but entirely disappeared.
References
- ^ "The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916) pg 243
- ^ "The Evolution and Development of the Lodge or Tracing Board" by E.H. Dring in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.29 (1916) pg 244
- ^ "Tracing Boards–Their Development and Their Designers" by T.O. Haunch in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum No.75 (1962)