Masonic Apron on Deerskin 

American, a Masonic apron with coin silver medallion, the medallion with impressed Mark / W. Higgins under a Masonic symbol, the bag having a printed transfer on the front depicting a Masonic scene, marked by the engraver A. Reed for Br. S. Dewey, with the name Frances A. Simons Wert written in ink u.l. corner; 13.25 x 15 in.
A. Reed is possibly Abner Reed (1771-1866) the engraver of Connecticut, and later Toledo, Ohio. Reed, born in 1771, began working as an engraver in the 1790s. He pursued a successful engraving business through the 1820s and then worked sporadically through the 1840s. In 1851, he moved to Toledo, Ohio, to live with his daughter and remained there until his death in 1866.
A signed example of Abner Reed’s aprons, very similar to this piece, is in the National Heritage Museum Collection, Lexington, Massachusettes.

Wear and creases to the hide, print, and lining.