When once the house is built and the work of bricklayer, carpenter, plumber, painter, glazier, and mason is finished, it is necessary to set about those decorations which accompany the furnishing; and one of the first of the trades needed for this purpose is that of the Gilder, who has to do not only with cornices, mouldings and other ornaments, but also with the frames of pictures and looking-glasses that adorn the walls and chimney-pieces. These frames, however, have first to be made by the joiner, and then receive the work of the carver, or the ornament maker. The joiner does little more than put the plain groundwork of the frame together; but the duty of the carver is of a very artistic description; and to be a good carver in wood requires an education and a taste very nearly equal to that of the sculptor, with whom the artists in wood formerly held a high rank. Most of the ornaments now used for frames, however, are less expensive than those formerly produced by the carver who added a fresh value to the painting or the looking-glass by exercising his skill upon the costly settings in which they appeared. Composition ornaments are now in general demand for all but the most expensive frames, and as this composition—which is formed of glue, water, linseed oil, resin, and whiting—is pressed into moulds when it is of about the consistence of dough, it is evident that the mould maker has partially taken the carver’s place. A new substance, however, has to a great extent superseded the old composition, and this is _papier-mâché_, or the pulp of paper (literally, mashed or beaten paper), which, from its lightness, its greater strength and durability, and the thinness to which ornaments made of it can be reduced, is preferable for all large decorations. Whatever may be the size or pattern of the frame, however, we will suppose that the ornament maker received it from the joiner, who puts it together after it has been covered with coatings of hot size and whiting; the size being made from parchment cuttings or kid leather parings boiled to a sort of jelly. The nail or screw holes are then filled up with putty by the help of the putty knife, and the surface of the frame smoothed with pieces of pumice stone. The ornament maker next fixes on the decorations and hands it to the Gilder, whose first business is to wash the ornaments carefully in order to remove any oil that may have remained on their surface from the inside of the cast. [Illustration: Size. Whiting. Putty Knife. Badger Tool. Duster. Gold Leaf Knife. Cushion. Tip.]