Veterinary equipment. Although glass mortars and pestles are fragile, they are stain-resistant The substance to be ground is placed in the mortar and ground, crushed or mixed using the pestle. It would have been used to break up tablets. (identified by vet. Peter Honey) These items were found in an old walk-through dairy at Wombat Track near Orbost. These items are representative of items used in Orbost on dairy farms in the first half of 20th century.A mortar and pestle. The mortar (2397.1) is a shallow bowl. The pestle (2397.2) is a blunt club-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. Both are made of glass.veterinary-equipment mortar-pestle dairy farming