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Cabinet Turkish Bath, 1870s:
The Dew Collection, The
Oxfordshire Museum
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< Photo: Oxfordshire
Museum |
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This beautiful bath dating from the
1870s was fitted with a book rest and two holes to allow left- or
right-handed bathers to turn the page when required. While the cabinet
bath was a boon to anyone living in an area without a Turkish bath
establishment, it was also suggested as a solution for 'sensitive
people' for whom 'the idea of taking the bath in company with several
others, is by no means pleasant.'1
The bath was supplied with a
two-sided hanging card with instructions on how it should be used. |
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< Unframed image reduced
from hanging card (377x270 mm) courtesy Oxfordshire Museum |
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< Image reduced from
hanging card (377x270 mm) courtesy Oxfordshire Museum
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The bath was economical to run,
'not costing more than a penny for each bath; no assistance is required
in using it; the apparatus is quite portable, and being [unusually]
fixed on castors is readily moved, and it is an ornament to a bed, bath,
or dressing-room.'
A more
comprehensive illustrated account of portable Turkish baths can be found
elsewhere on the site. |
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Carol
Anderson, Curator, The Oxfordshire Museum,
for permission to reproduce
their photograph of the bath
Phil Platt,
The Museums Resource Centre, for his help while viewing the
cabinet |
Footnote
1.
'Hot-air or Turkish bath for
every house' North Wales Chronicle
(26 May 1877)
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