History of the Bath
The first documented bathing facilities date back as far as 3000BC to ancient India and the Palace of Indus Valle. Evidence suggests that the ancient Egyptians designed and constructed limestone bathing areas in the homes of the wealthy, where servants would pour water over their masters. Remains of the first single freestanding bathtub were found on the Greek Island of Crete, made from hardened pottery. It is this tub that is the forefather of the modern bath and resembled the shape and design of the 19th Century freestanding claw foot bathtub. It is believed to be over 3,000 years old.
Bathtubs gained popularity in ancient Greece within the wealthy communities. Many bathtubs from around 500 BC have been found at various sites and they were very similar to modern day bathtubs. These tubs were self draining. It is apparent that the ancient Greeks sat up during their baths, probably because of the words of Hippocrates , who said that sitting while bathing is healthier than reclining.
The Roman Empire is widely believed to be responsible for setting the standards for modern personal hygeine from around 500 BC, with the introduction of the public bath and daily rituals of bathing. They used lead and bronze pipes, marble fixtures, and created a comprehensive sewerage system. During this period, public baths were most common, and private baths resembled indoor pools, usually encompassing an entire room. After the collapse of the Roman Empire and descent into the Dark Ages, sanitation virtually disappeared. Bathing was replaced by the use of perfume.
Almost simultaneously in 1883, both the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company (now American Standard) and Kohler began the process of enameling cast iron bathtubs to form a smooth interior surface. Kohler’s first clawfoot tub was advertised as a “horse trough/hog scalder, when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub.” These tubs soon became mass-produced as they were recognized as having an extremely sanitary surface that was easy to clean, thus preventing the spread of bacteria and diseases. The instantly recognisable claw foot bathtub was born.
The bath has evolved and reinvented itself with ever changing materials in the 5,000 years since its creation, although modern bathing trends see us heading back to natural solutions. StoneKAST bridges this gap to unveil the ultimate bath, a StoneKAST bath.