ちょっとしたお化粧直し
ヴィンテージ洗面器の復活
Today, I wish to show you another find from the antique market in Arezzo, Tuscany, where I commute on a monthly basis as long as the weather permits. Even if I don’t find anything to buy, I love the atmosphere of this lovely Tuscan town, and above all, to chit chat with my friend Lili, who holds a booth here and sells the refurbished items from her studio.
On a beautiful sunny day in Arezzo, as the vendors were getting ready to pack their stuff and close the booths, what caught my attention was this brightly painted red antique wash basin, standing tall but a bit shy, waiting for someone to take her home.
“Wow, this will be perfect for my new bathroom”, I thought. The recently finished bathroom, which was previously an old walk-in closet, needed some functional pieces to put my bathroom nicknacks. A quick Google search showed that, before the days of indoor plumbing, washstands like this with a wash basin and a pitcher were a fixture in many bedrooms throughout a large part of the 18th century and early-19th century.
I flipped the back of this vintage enamel wash basin bowl, and found a script “due leuni 32” with a logo of two lions hawling at each other. According to my findings, Due Leoni (two lions) of Bassano, is an Italian company founded in 1925, specializing in the production of enamel products. The pitcher was replaced with some junk, but Lili has confirmed that the enamel basin and the stand is a real vintage, most likely dating back to 1932. What a find!
As the sunset approached and the market was nearing the end, I paid EUR50 with EUR10 discount and happily brought this vintage red wash basin home and did a photo shoot next to the previously refurbished French antique bathroom cabinet which Lili has also refurbished. Oh, what a good match it will be! Off she went, to Lili’s workshop studio in Campania for a total makeover!
My romantic encounter with vintage wash stand is through the impressionist paintings, especially those of Mary Cassatt, whose works I absolutely admire. I threw away the junk pitcher but maybe can find something to replace it.
Women Bathing, 1891. National Gallery of Art, DC.
The Child’s Bath, 1892. Art Institute of Chicago
Few weeks later, Lili sent me a photo of the total makeover - looking much more elegant and refreshed!
This vintage basin became a little cute helper in the bathroom, where I put my make up, mirror, hair brush, etc. and sometimes to hang towels.
Vintage furnishings bring such charm, especially as they are all practical and functional, not just decorative. One’s imagination can find other use for it, too, - as I’ve seen in front of a vegetarian restaurant in Orvieto!