easel

noun

1. a stand or frame for supporting or displaying at an angle an artist’s canvas, a blackboard, a china plate, etc.
2. Also called masking frame. Photography. a frame, often with adjustable masks, used to hold photographic paper flat and control borders when printing enlargements.

noun

1. a frame, usually in the form of an upright tripod, used for supporting or displaying an artist’s canvas, blackboard, etc

n.

1590s, from Dutch ezel “easel,” originally “ass,” from Middle Dutch esel, from Latin asinus “ass” (see ass (n.1)); the comparison being of loading a burden on a donkey and propping up a painting or canvas on a wooden stand (cf. sawhorse).