Silver Templar Trophies On The Auction Block

[My Freemasonry]

What happens when we lose the priceless items of our heritage? Someone else puts a price on them. Spotted on a listing of a Sotheby's auction in New York.

Additional highlights of the silver on offer include five trophy pieces from the St. Bernard Commandery No. 35, Knights Templar, Chicago. By World War I, an estimated one in every eight adult men and women in the United States belonging to some kind of fraternal order, and marching competitions at the state and national levels drew audiences in the tens of thousands and produced intense rivalries. In a half-century of competition, St. Bernard Commandery from Chicago claimed more prizes that almost any other commandery, including the trophies offered this January. Among other treasures, the group features the 29th Triennial Conclave at San Francisco, CA, 1904: An American Silver and Copper “Indian†Punch Bowl, Stand and Ladle Attributed to Joseph Heinrich, New York, Retailed by Hammersmith & Field, San Francisco dated 1904 (est. $150/250,000), and the 22nd Triennial Conclave at San Francisco, CA, 1883: An American Silver, Bronze, and California Gold Quartz “Knights Templar†Trophy, George C. Shreve & Co., San Francisco, with figures attributed to F. Marion Wells in 1883 (est. $150/250,000). ​

More...

 

[robert leachman]

On my phone so I don't have time to look it up, but does this Commandary still exist?

Is so, do they know they are being auction off?

Were these items stolen at some point on the past?

Makes ya' go hhmmm!

 

[cambridgemason]

It is said when items like this leaves a certain Masonic body or Masonic buiding. At least one good thing is that the items are being saved in one way and will go to someone who will appreciate them. I have heard of too many horror stories where buildings and bodies clean house and throw away items. Or move and leave items behind which then are also thrown away.