Historical information

The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone. The pestle is a heavy club-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The substance to be ground is placed in the mortar and ground, crushed or mixed with the pestle. The mortar and pestle is usually utilised when cooking and when crushing ingredients for a certain drug in pharmacies. For pharmaceutical use, the mortar and the head of the pestle are usually made of porcelain, while the handle of the pestle is made of wood. This is known as a Wedgwood mortar and pestle and originated in 1779. Glass mortars and pestles are fragile, but stain-resistant and suitable for use with liquids. However, they do not grind as finely as the ceramic type

Physical description

The mortar is a thick clear glass bowl and the pestle is a solid clear glass club-shaped tool for crushing tablets to a finer powder or mixing liquids by a pharmacist.