Page 34 - Amo Amass A-muse is some of the fruit of a lifetimes love of Freemasonry - the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235

34 Amo Amass A-Muse - Lodge of the Nine Muses

to withdraw in order to bring in their candlesticks which were ceremonially placed in
position, the lighted candles being transferred.
The Masters of the two lodges then read out, in chronological order, extracts from their
own early minutes in semi-dramatic form showing how the Prince of Wales’s Lodge had
come into possession of these candlesticks in 1804, and how the Lodge of the Nine Muses
recovered possession of them in 1812.
A brief history was then given of these Candlesticks : from the offer of Brother Raphael
Franco to supply them, “not willing to be outdone in liberality,” on 23rd January 1777.
They were designed by Jean Baptiste Cipriani, the first candidate of the lodge, and Francis
Bartolozzi an early initiate. Both were Royal Academicians and were responsible for the
illustrations in the 1784 (Noorthouck) edition of the Book of Constitutions. On three
sides of the pedestal of each Candlestick is a miniature painting of one of the Nine Muses
and on the fourth side of each is the crest and shield of that lodge. These candlesticks were
afterwards copied by the Lodge of Regularity No. 91, but without the paintings, and in
turn the Premier Grand Lodge copied theirs.

P.J.D. January 1972