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I attended an open house at the Salt Lake City Masonic Temple on May 6, and was floored by the painted drops for the Scottish Rite Lodge. The drops are over 100 years old and pre-date the construction of the temple (1920’s) by some time; they had width added when they were moved to the new larger stage. I don’t know if they were painted by a local artist or one of the big scenic houses but those on display were beautiful. Looking up, they’re jammed into the flies on, I would guess, 4 inch centers and fill at least all of the downstage fly loft that I could see. I plan to follow up with the group and see about documentation and condition. Those on display were in good condition but showing paint loss and some other wear damage. We would love to share any photos you took in a future blog post if you would like to share!
And yes 4″ centers sounds about right. Masonic drops were usually rigged by being sandwiched between 2 wooden battons.
Wendy Waszut Barrett has a drypigment blog that is devoted to tons of Masonic info/ not sure if I know a better expert than her.
So glad you got to see them!!!
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And in looking for more information found this paragraph in a statement by the buildings architect that indicates that the scenery was in fact painted by, and modified by Thomas Moses.
“The scenery on the stage of this room, which is used mainly by the Scottish Rite and York Rite degrees, is quite priceless and should have some mention. Originally it hung in the old Temple at First South and Second East Streets. It was painted by a famous scenic artist and the committee was reluctant to part with it. Yet the sizes of the drops were entirely too small for the new stage. It happened that the artist who painted it was alive, although about seventy years old. He was induced to come to Salt Lake to enlarge the sets and to refinish them. About ten to fifteen feet were added to the width and five to ten to the height by cutting and splicing in new pieces at the top, at the bottom, sides, or center according to the design. Then the new parts were entirely painted, and the old parts touched up or painted over, as was necessary. It is considered a remarkable job and is one of the last works of the artist, Thomas G. Moses, who died in 1934, depicted so well the background of the higher Rite degrees, yet he had received the Blue Lodge degrees of Masonry only.”
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