TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT 299
architectural construction. Somewhat earlier than that, the catalogue of Rowney
and Company had listed and itemized what were known as Rustic Models. Among
these were a Dutch windmill, gates, pumps, stiles, railings, wells, cottages, water-
wheels, boat-houses, and castles, 'carefully studied from Nature, for the use of
sketching classes.'
Mop, a large, round brush, usually of camel hair (see figure I, g).
Mortar, a grinding vessel of cup shape, often made of hard stone (see Grinding
Slab and figure 13, a).
Muller, the moving part of the usual device for grinding color, of which the
grinding slab itself is the fixed and lower part (figure 13). Generally the muller
is a stone rounded at the top and at the bottom completely flattened so that it
has full contact with the grinding slab. The top is curved to fit the hand. Probably,
in most cases the material of the muller was the same as that of the stone because
any difference in hardness would have resulted in undue wear on the softer; but
the Brussels MS. of 1635 (Merrifield, II, 770) mentions a muller of flint or whet-
stone to be used on a porphyry slab. As hand-grinding of colors has gone out of
practice, the large slab and heavy stone muller are now very rarely seen. Occa-
sional grinding of small quantities of pigment is usually done on a ground glass
slab with a glass muller.
Needle, the name usually given to the fine-pointed steel instrument used in
etching and in dry-point on copper plates.
Oil Cup (see Dipper).
Painting Knife (see Palette Knife).
Palette. This word, perhaps as much used as the name of any utensil con-
nected with the art of painting, has a figurative as well as literal meaning, By the
former, it denotes arrangements of color, mixtures and assortments of pigment, or
the scheme of tone relations in a given work or in the work of a painter or school.
Literally, in its present use, it has to do with the surface on which a painter lays
out and mixes his colors before applying them to the painting itself. As a rule, the
palette is an object that can be carried in the hand, but many painters prefer
to use the top of a painting cabinet or table which can be brought into a position
conveniently near to the easel. Such a mixing surface is said to have been preferred
by Whistler and by other painters of recent times. It is seen also in an ancient
studio, that of a pygmy in a Pompeian wall painting (Berger, I and II, 174, fig.
31). For the most part, however, the palette is a thin slab of material made in
such a way that it can be held securely in one hand and provide a fair amount of
area in which plastic paint can be placed in lumps or mixed together with medium
or diluent.
The standard material for palettes during many centuries has been hardwood,
cherry and walnut having been particular favorites. Other materials, however, are
not uncommon—porcelain or enamelled ware, often with cups or slants in them
for water color glass, and aluminum for decorating or for wax painting. At