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This is a paint muller, a heavy stone used for grinding pigments to make paint. It was used by painter and decorator from Redhill from c.1900-1945. It was given to him by the master painter and decorator he was apprenticed to, who in turn, acquired the muller during his apprenticeship in the early 1870s. It was used in conjunction with a marble slab and palette knife - the pigment was ground into a paste on the marble using the muller which was held in the left hand. The palette knife was held in the right hand and used to scrape the paste to keep it in the grinding area.

1 paint muller: stone

MERL 'Handwritten catalogue' form – 'PAINT MULLER // Used by painter + decorator in Redhill from c.1900-c.1945 - see correspondence. // [pencil sketch]', Letter, W. D. Barnett to J. Higgs - 'I recently came across the Autumn 1954 number of the Countryman. // In this issue you invite information concerning two unidentified stone objects. It so happens that I have one of these things + fortunately know from personal contact the exact purpose to which it was put. // As a young joined I worked for several years with a master painter + decorator of the old school who, when he retired gave me this article which he explained was passed on to him during his apprenticeship in the early-70s. It was his job as a lad, of course later, to use this stone in conjunction with a slab of marble for grinding + breaking down dry paint pigments chiefly but might be used for reducing any dry material that needed to be reduced to more or less powder form. // It is approximately 8 inches tall + weights 8 lbs. // I would be pleased to part with this object if your museum or any other body or person interested enough to collect it for the purpose of preservation cares to call at the address above.', Letter, A. H. Frost - J. Higgs, 10 September 1954 - 'I read with interest your article in the current issue of the Countryman and note your query on page 164 and the picture of the two stones. A stone similar to these, called a muller, was used to grind paint. My father, who was apprenticed as a painter and plumber some 70 years ago, remembers how, during the winter, on a stone and muller the staff prepared the pigments required during the busy season. The pigment was spread on a flat stone, mixed either with oil or water. The muller was held in the left hand and worked in a circular motion, grinding the pigment between its flat base and the flat stone. The right hand held a palette knife which was used to scrape up the past of pigment and keep it in the grinding area. The muller weighed several pounds and was "larger than half a large coconut with a flat base". Stones and mullers must have been used for this purpose for a very long period and by by [sic] artists too, no doubt. The stone and muller was replaced by the iron hand driven paint mill, but the former could be found in country workshops till the end of the last century. You do not say of what size the stones are, but if they are of suitable size for this purpose they might be millers; if they are there might be traces of pigment still adhering to them in some crevices. Of course this suggestion of mine may be very far from being the true one, but I send it for what it is worth.'

1870 - 1870