Probably the oldest ‘high degree’ was that of “Scottish Master” (or “Scots Master”) which might have been worked in England as early as the 1730’ies. There is a text from Berlin, dated 1747, in the Kloss collection with the content of the degree. The story is that of master builders from Scotland who were not content with the replacement of the master’s word in the third degree. They went to the Holy Land to find clues to what the original master’s word might have been. They search the rubble of King Solomon’s Temple (hence the destroyed temple) and find “4 column-pieces lying on the ground in the shape of a saltire” (an X), which is convenient, because Scottish Master lodges are dedicated to Saint Andrew. Crossed pillars mostly appear on old Scottish Master tracing boards, but are not always obviously pillars. The plaque in the middle (with the original word on it?) is a typical element.
The image above is from the 1747 Berlin text. It can also be found in Feddersen (SD/4), but he found it in a Danish archive.
In France the degree took a somewhat different term. It is usually called “Maître Parfait” (‘perfect master’) rather than “Maître Ecossais” (Scottish master), which became the name of another degree. There are some variations to the name of the degree and the crossed pillars are usually a wee bit more complex in France:
The crossed pillars lay on top of two, three or four circles and two, three of four squares which are explicitly mentioned in the rituals, such as in the Cayers Maçonniques:
Q. Are you a Perfect Master?
A. I have seen the circles and the quadrature in the Holy of Holies
[…]
Q. Why these three circles?
A. They represent for us the emblem of the divinity, which has no beginning and no end.
Q. What do they represent together?
A. The creation of light, which was accomplished by the will of God and the action it has given to the basic qualities.
Or later in the same collection:
Q. What do the four circles represent?
A. The immensity of the Supreme Being, Who has no beginning nor end.
Q. What do the four squares represent?
A. The four parts of the world to which the Great Architect of the Universe extends His power.
An interesting variation can be found on a British fifth degree AASR tracing board:
Two Pillars in saltire and a Rope passing from the Monument, round the junction of the Pillars to the Obelisk.
The combination reminds of the tracing boards with also a St. Andrew’s cross, connected to Hiram’s coffin by a rope or snake.
In this 29th degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite “transparency”, the pillars are obviously those we know of the first degree. I am not sure about the other letters on them though.
There is a beautiful example in the book La Physique du Maçon par Francois-Nicolai Noël. This is not a ritual text, but more of a manual for Freemasons with tons of beautiful drawings and text about a variety of subject going from Kabbala to Alchemy. There is a table about “our alchemy” which has under the letter C a header “Colonne” (‘pillar’ or ‘column’) which says: “Column B: fire, Column J: tincture” and the follows this image:
Top: Collection (1844) of Georg Kloss (1787-1854) (Der Schottische Meister und Andreasritter der Schottischen Loge l’Union zu Berlin am 7 October 1746, nebst einem Patent für Br. Dahle. 2 October 1746 Kl.MS:V.A.5)
Second: Cayers Maçonniques (National Library of Australia, MS 1097/44)
Third and fourth: A.&.A.R. the Intermediate Degrees 1º – 17º G.E.W. Bridge (1974)
Bottom: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Fonds Maçonnique, Atlas FM ICONOGR 24, La Physique du Maçon par Francois-Nicolai Noël 1812