A Beautiful and Accurate Elevation of the Temple of Solomon Taken From the Celebrated Model Erected by Counsellor Schott at Hamburgh. Ornamented with the most interesting Passages in the Lives of King David and Solomon his Son. (c. 1860's)

Detail:
black and white lithograph mounted on linen as a wall hanging with wood rods
dimensions: 26 ½" x 42" (47" with rods)|
professionally restored, backed on new linen, new silk edges and mounted on original wooden rods.
condition: paper is toned with some stains, repaired tears, cracks in paper, filled loss in margins
Description:
This c. 1860's American lithograph in the format of a wall map presents a large scale, formal architectural front view of the ancient Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The font and heavy paper of this lithograph are typical of American wall maps of this era. The imagery of the Temple of Solomon was central to 18th and 19th c. English and American Masonic Lodge practices and decor. Therefore, this 19th c. wall hanging was published with an intended clientele that included American Masonic lodges.1/

The lithograph's title alludes to "... the Celebrated Model Erected by Counsellor Schott at Hamburgh...." This phrase identifies this American lithograph as belonging to an artistic lineage from the first quarter of the 18th century in London, England documented in newspapers 2/, tourist souvenirs 3/, books 4/ and large copper plate engravings 5/ published to commemorate the 1724 arrival and public display in London's Hay Market of the large, wood model of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem built by Counsellor Gerhard Schott (1641-1703) in Hamburg, Germany - by various accounts built over the course of up to 19 years. The dimensions of the wood model are approximately 130 square feet and it is still extant. What a monumental task it must have been to disassemble, box and ship this model from Germany to London, England. Ultimately, Schott's model was returned to Germany in the 18th century.

Interest in publishing representations of a front view of the Temple of Solomon from Schott's model continued long after the model left London. Sayer and Bennett's 1775 print catalogue includes two large scale prints featuring the Temple of Solomon, one a plan of Jerusalem and the other "An Exact Front View of the Temple of Solomon with its holy Vessels...taken from the Model erected at Hamburgh at the Expence of the learned and judicious Counsellor Schott, and lately brought into England, and shown to his Majesty.... " Research is ongoing to locate an example of this print in public or private collections. This 1775 print was issued 50 years after Schott's model was brought to London's Haymarket, suggesting the market for this Masonic imagery had only grown.

The artistic convention of representing the Temple of Solomon based on Schott's wood model crossed the Atlantic to America. In 1798, American engraver and printer John Norman (1748-1817) who emigrated in 1774 from London to America - first to Philadelphia and then to Boston in 1781 - advertises twice in the Massachusetts Mercury for a minimum of 300 subscribers for an engraving to be titled "A Front View of the Temple of Solomon with the Holy Vessels taken from the Modell erected at Hamborough at the expense of the learned and judicious Counsellor Schott..." His intended audience was American Masons and post Revolutionary War 18th c. American Masonic Lodges. Reaching his goal of 300 subscribers also suggests a wholesale marketing plan./6 John Norman promises his large print "to be carefully and correctly engraved from an "English Copy" in the possession of the St. Andrews Royal Arch Chapter in Boston.7/ Whether Norman obtained the required number of subscribers is yet to be documented.

The Scottish Rites Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts holds the only published institutional example in the United States of an 18th c. imprint titled "A Front View of the Temple of Solomon...taken from the Modell erected at Hamborough at the expense of the learned and judicious Counsellor Schott...". The print does not identify a publisher or engraver, nor is there a date, but the Whatman 1794 watermark provides some clues. Both the paper and the font are 18th century. The title of the Scottish Rites Museum's print tracks the title in John Norman's two 1798 Massachusetts Mercury advertisements including his use of "Hamborough" rather than "Hamburgh". The July 16, 1799 Minutes of the Union Lodge of Dorchester authorize the lodge to "cause to be framed and glazed...this print,representing Solomon's Temple."8/

The art history root of the imagery for this American 19th c. wall hanging is the work of Jesuit architect Juan Bautista Villalpando (1552-1608) and his 16th-17th c. engravings of King Solomon's Temple published in Rome.9/ The detailed Villalpando engravings of the Temple of Solomon are bound, large scale fold out elevations, including the much copied front elevation and separate elaborate vignettes, including angels, sacrifice, and holy vessels. These Villalpando engravings are immediately recognizable as the model for both 18th and 19th c. English and American prints of Solomon's Temple. /10 The Villalpando tradition influenced many artists in their depiction of Solomon's Temple, including Counselor Schott in the design of his large wood model. Other 18th and 19th c. graphic styles for representing the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem exist, including work by English engraver John Senex. 11/

Dating the Villalpando line of Temple of Solomon prints that were produced into the 20th c. requires care. These graphically complex prints vary in attribution (if any is present), size, paper, the number of accompanying vignettes, the placement and text of the title and whether the vignettes appear in positive or reversed. Especially notable in this last regard are the active angels in the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Notes:

1. See Library of Congress later 1860's The Masonic Ladder: or the Nine Steps to Ancient Freemansonry, J. Scherer & Co., Ohio book and accompanying Temple of Solomon print which has a large body of text along the bottom absent in this wall hanging edition. A Cincinnati, Ohio Masonic Lodge displays its lodge decor on line, including a 19th c. Temple of Solomon wall hanging.

2. There are numerous accounts in the London press in 1724 and 1725 about Schott's model on public display. Daily Journal, London, December 8, 1724; Daily Post, London Jan. 21, 1725 stating ticket price Five Shillings; Daily Courant, London, January 18, 1725 et al. through Aug. 8, 1725 - "the publick is desired to take notice that the Temple of Solomon will be shewn but a little Time Longer." Newspaper coverage resumes in 1727 through June, 1727.

3. The December 28, 1724 London Daily Courant announces public exhibition of Schott's model, tickets a half Guinea or for repeat visits one Guinea! and also for sale "...The printed description of it, with several fine Cuts, is to be had at the same place at Five Shillings the Book...." At London's Freemason Hall and Library I viewed their c. 1724-1725 illustrated publications of the Temple of Solomon and of the Holy Vessels. One engraving is 18" square. An 18th c. booklet with 13 smaller plates matches the description of the Jan. 21, 1775 Daily Post souvenir.

4.Thomas Bowles printseller and John Bowles, print seller announce in the March 26, 1725 London Daily Journal for sale their Sacred Geography Illustrated including a view of the Temple of Solomon.