Louis-Léopold Boilly, French
From the Discontinued IKEA Items Catalog: the Beåvørskrübben, ca. 1790
Oil on canvas
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MASTERPIECE #3388
Info about this artist is pointed to by my comment and reply at another blog entry.
/// It’s a basin built into a bench,
first invented back then by the French.
For most, bathing was rare.
Women sought extra care;
daily ways to stay fresh (and ban stench).
/// In a cloakroom in back, tucked away,
using rose petals and a sachet
to scent water sits she—
Esmé, posing for The
Morning Wash: Woman on a Bidet.
/// Here the cabinet makers have tried
the bidet’s private function to hide.
Wood has been carved, of course,
like a child’s hobby horse
and the woman’s just taking a ride.
/// Every morning, young Esmé would go
for an intimate wash “down below.”
No soft towels are nigh,
so how does she get dry?
Strong-lunged servants would line up and blow.
/// When her morning ablutions were through,
she instructed her maid what to do:
Drain the basin into
a large glass jar which Hugh,
the town pervert, would buy for a sou.