05/12/2020
"A washbasin is a large bowl, usually with taps for hot and cold water, for washing your hands and face."
- Collins Dictionary
A washbasin vessel sink is a free-standing sink, generally finished and decorated on all sides, that sits directly on the surface of the furniture on which it is mounted. These sinks have become increasingly popular with designers because of the large range of materials, styles and finishes which they can be presented.
The vast majority of the human population throughout the historical times did not have bathrooms of any and those who lived out of cities did not have access to bath houses so the ‘old tin bath‘ was put in front of the fire, usually in the kitchen. The first to use the water would be the head of the house, followed in a strict hierarchical order according to gender (males first) and age, (babies last).
Indoor toilets did not exist for most people. It would not be unusual for one hundred houses to share one common bathroom, often a deep hole or pit, dug in a shared yard, with toilet seats arranged over the pit.
That would not really change until no more than 100 years ago.
Except the Lavabo (a large stone basin outside religious temples to wash hands in before entering) not much seems to go on with the invention of a sink to wash ones hand and face, until the 16th Century.
In the 16th Century, the wealthy would have wooden washstand in their bedrooms, which would hold an iron pitcher and bowl to wash their face and hands. Over the next 200 years, this design was slowly elaborated on and washstands became present in most homes, very wealthy homes, and were small and made to sit in the corner of the room. It was more a decorative piece rather than an hygienic device.
In the 1850´s it was more available to the common individual in fairly industrialized countries to own a pocketwatch or even, some have wristwatches already, thanks to mass production. Meanwhile, the idea of having washbasins for hygiene was restricted, let alone private toilets in most homes.
Just after the 2nd World War and the economic and cultural outcomes of it, bathrooms were built into houses across the globe.
