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Odd Fellows Shelf and Mirror
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This shelf was probably made for a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Organizations like the Freemasons and Odd Fellows often decorated objects with fraternal symbols to remind members of their commitment to the brotherhood. In this piece the three pillars and the three-link chain represent the Odd Fellows motto---"Friendship, Love, and Truth." Only members of the order understood the symbolism of the serpent, staff, horn, and tent.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineOdd Fellows Shelf and Mirror. ca. 1850-1900. John Haley Bellamy, born Kittery, ME 1836-died Portsmouth, NH 1914. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson. CC0.
