High above the columns of the Advance Masonic Temple in Astoria, Queens, a carved limestone egg-and-dart relief preserves one of classical architecture’s most enduring motifs. More than ornament, it expresses rhythm, order, and the symbolic seriousness of the building itself.

Four carved limestone lions crown the columns outside the Advance Masonic Temple in Astoria, Queens. Their presence draws on a long architectural history of guardianship, courage, authority, and ceremonial protection.

The entrance of Astoria’s Advance Masonic Temple is composed like a ceremonial threshold. Limestone columns and arched masonry create structure; carved stone details transform the façade into a language of strength, order, and consecration—setting up a series on the lions, the egg-and-dart, and the bucranium.