History and bathroom fixtures

There are few places in a house that get a worse reputation through history that the bathroom, and in most cultures the bathroom fixtures were kept a long way from the living areas of the house, and apart from the house completely. But in modern times the bathroom has become a place of much attention and luxury in terms of decorative style and expense, and there are antique dealers who are cashing in on this fact. 

Antique bathroom fixtures like pedestal sinks fetch up to $10,000 if they are in great shape and have special stylistic features or designs. Many of the old sinks were made out of basically three different categories of materials, namely porcelain enamel coated cast iron, pure vitreous china, and fired porcelain clay or earthen ware. The pedestal sink is so named because the basin that holds water is supported by a pillar or pedestal, and many of the old sinks had serpentine or art deco or Arts and Crafts style lines that were showed off in the shape of the pedestal.  

Porcelain enamel sinks are often found in rough shape, because as the coating chips off or gets abrased off by cleansers or acidic substances, the water comes in contact with exposed metal and causes rust. These sinks also often have broken spots, chips, and  cracks. But these can be refinished by people who paint them with bathroom fixtures refinishing products. 

The solid China bathroom fixtures are best, because if they are not abused, they last forever without losing their lustre or functionality. They are made like the fine China that people eat off off, and are extremely rare because they are fragile - like any household China - and so most of the old ones are now cracked or broken or completely destroyed. mishandled. These types of fixtures will never rust, because they have no metal in them. 

Earthenware bathroom fixtures are made like pottery, from the same kind of fireclay and glazing used on pots and vases. They are fired in a kiln until they clay gets little crazed lines and cracks in the surface, which is very beautiful but entirely rare. They stopped making these in the USA about 100 years ago, and they sell for the kind of prices we would expect to pay for fine antique furniture or art work.

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