The symbols of Freemasonry’s mysteries are not to be found in the Ross Bridge carvings
This morning, I spent an interesting hour with the librarian of the Grand Lodge of Tasmania. I had years of questions to distil into time available, having formed the opinion that many of the symbols in the sculptures were derived from the mysteries of freemasonry. He was well prepared and pleased to help me.
The mantelpiece at 31, Church Street, Ross
There is a mantelpiece in a room through the shop and dining room of Bakery 31 that I had heard was carved by Dan Herbert. But was it?
I scrabbled around its base and under the shelf hoping for a signature but could not find one.
In the Ross village interactive map, it is stated that the house originally belonged to Robert Standaloft.
Caterpillars and cocoons, sea serpents, a seahorse and a mermaid
On the south face of the western arch, on the right side as you look at it, is a pair of sculptures that is recognisable, referring to metamorphosis: that change from one form into another, like a maggot into a fly, a caterpillar into a butterfly, from an egg via a cocoon. A pair of five-petalled flowers, not a butterfly, is juxtaposed.