Sink trivia....old sink picture.
 

Ok a friend was tearing out an old home and this sink was in it. He wants to know what it was used for. With the vast knowledge here this should be an easy one.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...UniqueSink.jpg


this is not a joke.......really!

What makes you think it's a sink?

It's a urinal with a special design to make sure that nobody misses!




















Just kidding! :D

The REAL answer will be interesting, I'm sure...

My vote is for a "Sitz Bath".

Answer.com
Definition
A sitz bath (also called a hip bath) is a type of bath in which only the hips and buttocks are soaked in water or saline solution. Its name comes from the German verb "sitzen," meaning "to sit."

What that funky look'n thing is, is one of those 99 dollar hot tubs from that Weirs Times classified ad. :D .......another NH bargain too good to pass bye .:look:

My belief is that it is a flower pot one fines on the front lawn of an old antique shop.:)

not a Sitz
 

This is a Sitz basin used in giving a Sitz Bath.

Could we get some additional information.

Age of home that the sink is in currently.
Style of home
If it is still available to look at, try to have him find the stamp just behind the drain on the underside of the basin, that will have some information that would help with the placement of the date and possibly the manufacturer which will then help narrow things down a little.

That’s easy. Sometimes older gentlemen need a little running water to get things flowing. It’s called a Niagara basin

I'll have to go with King Kong's pleasure device.

Yes I agree!!!!!!

it is the most sound guess so far in my opinion.......

How about a urinal for women?

Note to Self: Don't use "nailed" with this topic...
 

It could be from an olde hospital supply firm.

A stamping or a date-stamp might help, but it's possible that the item isn't marked because it was imported. :confused: I think RG has already "nailed it" anyway. :cool:

This basin is clearly designed around a minimal requirement for water—suggesting it might date from around the 1880s. Hot water would have to be manually carried—from say, a woodstove—to mix with cold water supplied from the faucet.

(If hot water wasn't supplied, hopefully the cold water wasn't glacial runoff). :eek:

BTW: Isn't FLL showing a little too much interest in this item? :laugh:

I was told the height of the sink makes it impractical to use as a urinal. If I get to talk to him tonight I will see if he has more information.

I contacted a vintage plumber expert and this is what he told me
Hello,
that is a hairdressers sink. I have not seen it before, but have seen similars. The curved areas are for someone lying in a chair to rest her neck against and the hair flows into the sink. It could be something Euro made, rather than American.
That is the best I can tell you,
All the best,

Don Hooper - Vintage Plumbing

Definately not a hairdresser's sink.I had my head in one yesterday and the extension on this one is just the opposite.A standup version for backhair maybe.

It's a sink alright, but for ....
 

As said it's a sink but it's for horses. Supposedly too high to be a urinal, it makes perfect sense to be a Sitz type sink for horses. Of course I mean only for a male horse but this makes sense. It was designed for Catherine the Great so she could have her ... ummm .... "friend's" .... ummmm .... "parts" properly bathed before they .... ummmmm ..... became "more friendly". Look at it again, form follows function.

Steve Martin I believe had it.......
Looks like "time for a good old fashion blood letting". :eek:

While the sitz type sink idea seems to make the most sense, I have a hard time believing that those legs were designed to hold the weight of a body.

I know that, in general, people were smaller and lighter then. But those legs look awful spindly.

Bet these folks might know...
 

http://www.vintageplumbing.com/home.html

I couldn't find anything that looked like it on their site. But it is Vintage. :rolleye1: