We normally have unusual Victorian era toilet bowls, tanks, complete sets, shower units, sitz baths, foot baths, and odd-ball items available. We are one of the few shops that ever has embossed ornamental toilet bowls in good condition available for sale. We think they define Victorian ornamentation in the bathroom. We will display them and other bathroom oddities in this corner of the warehouse. But, if there is something you want and you do not see it, please inquire- we might have it.
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LAST UPDATED: May 10, 2013
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| Here is one of the best embossed high tank toilet sets you will ever see. We used this set in our own home. A beautiful heavily embossed syphon jet bowl marked Itasca by the Rundle Spence Mfg Co of Chicago. ca.1902. The tank is extra large made of beautiful quartered oak veneer with a large crown moulding and flame shaped brass cleat brackets. The matching seat is egg shaped with great scalloped hinges. It fits the bowl perfectly. The bowl has the deepest relief embossed decoration. There is a link rod chain with guide for wall with an onyx stone pull. Flush tube and water supply tube included. Price for all $4000 |
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| Another Best of the Best Victorian era toilet set. Never seen before tank strap brackets, and a beautiful toilet bowl. Make your bathroom a showcase. |
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| Holbrook, Merrill & Stetson Mfg Co. "GEM" syphon jet toilet bowl with wonderful high tank. Will include old original seat and flush tube. Price $4500 |
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| ca.1902 embossed toilet bowl to work with high or low tank. Marked HMS Chino with 1890s patent date. Excellent condition. |
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| The HMS or Holbrook, Merrill & Stetson Company of San Francisco and Los Angeles was an obscure company with toilet designs that were very elaborate. This is a gorgeous bowl with draped back and viney front. Price - $2300 |
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| Here is a unique Body Shower, Shampoo unit that would have been on the wall above a built-in bathtub with a shower curtain over it. Body Spray U-Bar, and Shampoo control and outlet with a hook for the hand sprayer head. There is no provision for overhead shower. Very nice early look to this super rare assembly. The manufacturer, The Meyer-Sniffen Co of New York may have been the very best quality maker of plumbing goods in the USA 110 years ago. Price - $2000 |
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| Beautiful ca.1900 embossed toilet for use with high tank only. 14"-16" rough. There is some discoloration in the overall crazing on the base and in the basin. Slightly off white color. Still a beautiful highly ornamental bowl. |
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| This embossed syphon jet bowl has a small top inlet for use with 1 1/4" diameter high tank flush tube. Its stunning green w/gold decoration is just wonderful for a victorian bathroom. Price- $2000 |
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| Super Rare! ca.1900 Bidet by the Haines, Jones & Cadbery Co of Phila PA. All original with full hardware. The china bowl has some age cracking and one crack on the back rim is serious, but this fixture is so rare I had to get. There is a hinge unit for a seat, but the seat is not included. It would have to be made. Price- $1500 Price break! - now $1000 Comments? Click here- EMAIL VINTAGE PLUMBING
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A Discussion on Antique Showers
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| Standard Mfg Co. shower with large mixing chamber, thermometer, side sprays, and round shower receptor. |
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What is the deal with showers?
I receive a lot inquiries about adapting a shower or at least a hand sprayer to an old rolled rim bathtub that has standing hardware. And there is no good and easy way to do it. And people ask why that is, since the shower or hand sprayer is such a vital and fundamental piece of bathing equipment. Many, many people also comment to me that the bathrooms in their pre-1930s houses, and especially Victorian or Arts & Crafts era homes, lack a shower altogether. And many of these homes are upper class houses or mansions, and even they do not have so much as one shower anywhere in the house! People cannot fathom why that is, since a shower would be the first fixture you would put in a house today, after a toilet and a sink. To provide enlightenment on the history of residential showers in America, as well as to try to explain why antique showers today have to be so doggoned expensive, I offer the following information, most of which is taken directly from an article that appeared in the Nov/Dec 1994 issue of the bible for antique home owners, the Old House Journal. The writer is Stephen del Sordo, environmental engineer and old house historian and preservationist.
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It was uncommon for homes built before the 1920s to have a shower in them. For homeowners of the time, a shower was an unnecessary expense. Besides the bill for the extra plumbing fixture and installation, there was the hidden cost of constantly repairing wood wainscot and plaster, the principal wall covering in pre-World War 1 bathrooms. Only a rubber or duck-canvas curtain contained the shower spray, and that did not work real well. Even where indoor plumbing was common, such as the big cities, showers were used primarily by men, and not women. Showers had been in use in barracks, gymnasiums and bathhouses since at least the 1880s, but those places were generally inhabited by men. The shower was strongly associated therefore with athleticism and men. Women were considered the weaker sex, delicate and fragile compared to men. The streams of water were widely felt to be harmful to women. Home décor authority Charles E. White wrote in 1914 that "……some constitutions cannot stand the rigors of shower bathing, a practice which should be resorted to only under the advice of a physician." So, well up until the 1930s, most women would not consider showering, so what need was there for a shower fixture in the home? Bathing was done in the tub. But showers did have a purpose in the home for those who felt the need, and the purpose was medicinal or therapeutic. Shower sprays were believed to stimulate the action of the skin, and make some people healthier. Not until the late 20s and 30s did new ideas regarding germs and hygiene trickle into the public consciousness and begin to have an effect on how people outfitted their bathrooms.
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But, there were some people who specified showers for pre-1920 homes, and those people tended to be wealthy. The showers that had the most therapeutic value were the ones that had multiple sprays that would apply jets of water to specific parts of the body. These showers were called needle showers, since the fine jets of spray would strike the kidney area, ribcage, liver or spine like fine needles. These elaborate showers were very expensive, commonly costing from $300 to about $500. By comparison, Sears and Roebucks 1910 Home Builders Catalog list its most expensive complete bathroom ensemble, tub, sink and water closet with all necessary fittings to hook up, (without shower) for $49.95.
This might help explain the rarity of antique showers today, especially the ribcage or needle showers. They were mainly only found in a very few upscale homes, the ones most likely to be remodeled or modernized as tastes changed. And then, with their elaborate brass tubing and castings construction, they were strong candidates for the scrap metal yard. Brass has always been a highly sought after commodity, so these showers did not tend to hang around once removed from their original installation. They were scrapped out for brass, and lost forever. As a result of all this, they are rare as hen's teeth now, and highly sought after by some old house people who have seen them in magazines or in old catalogs.
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Original Subway Tile All Gone!
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SUBWAY TILE! Sometimes we get it, but at the
moment, we have nothing available.
Questions?
Click here- EMAIL VINTAGE
PLUMBING
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| The faucet hole spread on a normal early tub is 3 3/8" on centers. Faucets with or without showers to fit such hole pattern are readily available in the repro marketplace. But, faucets to fit a different hole spread can be very hard to find. We sometimes have them. Shown are one with 4 1/2" spread and one with 6 1/2" spread. We usually have several original tub faucets for you purists out there. Inquire as to price.
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| Many people would rather have a original set of restored faucets on their antique sink than a repro set. We are here to serve those people! Several early sets of faucets are shown. The side handle faucets are known as "fuller-ball" faucets, because of the eccentric cam action and ball washer inside. We can make them work again! Inquire as to price.
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| We have the details you want to complete your antique bathroom restoration. Here are several very rare pull chain guides with original pull handles. The guide would keep the handle from swinging all over the place. The better toilet sets would have link rod chain and china pull. We have one at the moment. Inquire.
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| Original oak or other hardwood toilet pull handles are very hard to find. We usually have several to choose from. Better ones had a rubber bumper on them to protect the wall. Prices range from $30 to $125. Sometimes we have some new-old stock. Inquire.
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| If
you are trying to get an original marble sink top back to
original condition, you may need a chain stay for the chain
and drain plug. We have them, in spades! We have them simple
and fancy, including ones with a jewel cup on top and a soap
dish on top. Priced from $40 to about $200
Please
click the link to ask us about anything on this page... E-MAIL VINTAGE
PLUMBING
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Miscellaneous Items that Have Been SOLD
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| "Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp, ca.1917. (Not Really) but a good facsimile of it. Nice wall mount urinal of the same design as the J.L. Mott Iron Works NY. R. Mutt 1917 " Fountain" artwork. *SOLD* |
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| Another beautiful embossed washdown toilet bowl for use with high or low tank. Has large 2" inlet spud. Only flaw is a baby fingernail size sliver chip down on the base at the back. **SOLD** |
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Very early Fancy embossed toilet for your Victorian house. Marked W S Cooper Brass Works, Phila PA and patent dated 1881, 1888, and 1889. Has some discoloration on the base and in the bowl. No cracks or chips. Needs a boat nose seat made, but the hinges are present. Has a large size high oak tank and 8' tall wall board, all heavily quartered oak. Price for tank, board and bowl - **SOLD**
Please click the link to ask us about anything on this page... EMAIL VINTAGE PLUMBING
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| Beautiful John Douglas Co. Cinn OH ca1905. Quarter sawn oak tank in original varnish. Seat and tank both need restoration. Bowl has wonderful Makers label. **BOWL SOLD** |
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| Ca 1915 Speakman wall hanging shower, with body spray. |
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| This unit has water inlets 5.5" on centers, that enter from the wall. The mixer handle, and Shower and Spray handles are original, and control the head at top, and body spray bars below. The assembly is all old original nickel plated brass. There is no damage to any of the tubing. The valves will need to be freshened with washers and packings, and all connections made water tight by a plumber. **SOLD** |
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| The 5" diameter head pivots on a big knuckle. The overal height of the shower assembly is 68", and the width of the body spray assembly is 10.5" |
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| A unique shower assembly that can be mounted on wall alongside bathtub, and includes shower curtain ring, with angled head on one end of the ring. Made by the Speakman Mfg Co of Wilmington DEL. ca1925. Very good original condition. All correct original china cross handles. Size of ring, 28" by 42", and approx 70" tall. Water inlets 8" on centers. 28 **SOLD** |
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| Original J. L. Mott Iron Works shower unit to mount on wall over bathtub. All complete control manifold, riser, curtain ring and Mott head. All old original nickel plated brass in good condition, showing wear and age. A very rare assembly. **SOLD** |
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| The curtain ring on this assembly, as was common 100 years ago, is only about 25" in diameter. The sunflower rain shower head is 8" in diameter, and has about 60 1" long needles sticking out the face. All original Mott. **SOLD** |
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| The control valve manifold assembly for this unit is all complete, and original. The only issue is that the "shower" button for the top handle was changed sometime in the past to a shampoo button. All else is right. The hook at the bottom would hold the handle sprinkler head and hose (not included). |
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| Beautiful embossed toilet set by the Detroit Lead Pipe and Sheet Lead Works of Detroit Michigan, ca 1902. Patent Date 1896. Nice low oak tank with fluted column corners, and original seat still labeled Ideal Mfg Co Detroit in old original golden oak and varnish. Very slight chip in basin. No cracks. Nice label. Does not include the marble slab on floor. **NOTE- SOLD 3-22-10**
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Ca. 1905 John Douglas Co. "Royal" embossed toilet bowl with beautiful oak low tank and original saddle seat, with flame hinges on TOP of the seat and lid! **SOLD to NY buyer on 9-29-07**
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Dynamite Ca.1914 Trenton Pottery Co. toilet set. Great curvey China tank with parking lever handle. Has fancy heavy brass hinges on the TOP of the seat and the lid. 14" rough dimension. **SOLD on 5-21-07 to San Diego area buyer**
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Crane ribcage shower in as-found condition. Ca.1915. The four original handles, Hot, Cold, Shower and Needle are intact. The original thermometer is present and working. The base is a pedestal style porcelain enamel coated cast iron model in 36" square size. The finish is worn but not chipped. ** Note - SOLD to San Diego buyer on 2-5-07**
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