Rosalie Gilbert

Medieval Bath, Beauty and Hygiene

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 01:09:17 GMT

This lovely photo is courtesy of Andrew Fraser, who visited my display over the Abbey Medieval Festival weekend.

To the right, a sample of healthy things- tooth powder, tweezers, scissors for cutting hair, combs and mirrors, hair powder, etc then the bath, the lavarbo and myself. Keeping clean has never been so informative!

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Bath Photo Booth

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 00:55:19 GMT

Here's the set up!

We removed the bath board and snacks for the kids to climb in or be lifted in by their parents and then took a photo on their phone for them. The little stool was for any interested parents who wanted to be in the photo too!

The fake cheeses looked pretty good and the kids absolutely loved pretend pouring the drinks or getting their grown-ups to pour for them. It was terribly cute when two little siblings were in at the same time and poured for each other and played with the spoon, so there were many cute photo opportunities!

Even though it was an entirely fun activity, it was also educational, as visitors asked questions about the bath, the flagon, the food, soap, sponges and the scented water. A lot of very happy parents and caregivers went home very happy from this, and it's worth thinking about doing it again.

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Medieval slippers

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 11:44:41 GMT

I'd like to draw your attention to a pair of pretty fantastic slippers in this painting by Hans Memling painted in 1480. These slippers are exactly the kind that we use today, a design unchanged for over 700 years. Of course, slip on shoes have been in use since antiquity, but somehow this image of getting out of a bath, wrapping in a towel and sliding one's feet into indoor slippers is a scene we can recognise today.

The painting shows Bathsheba stepping out of her bath, which has, may I also draw your attention to, the best and most luxurious brocaded bath canopy I've ever seen.

Also of note is a flat brass dish with a wide brass rim on the floor, the type we see in many other manuscripts of women making their toilette and, also found in many modern homes today, a small, fluffy white dog anxiously waiting by the bath for it's owner to finish and just get out.

The painting may be hundreds of years old, but it has a recognisable feel of home today.

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Winterkingdom 2023 Talk

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 10:09:50 GMT

I'm excited to be invited to have a chat to the lovely SCA folk attending the Winterkingdom 2023. It's hosted by the barony of Northkeep, Tulsa, USA, so obviously, I'll be joining in virtually from across the ocean.

At 4pm on Saturday, January 28th Winterkingdom time, (8am on Sunday, January 29th Australian time,) I'll be having a bit of a chat about my new bath display. Obviously, people can't see it all set up, but I will have items from the display for a bit of a Show-And-Tell, including the reproductions and a couple of originals to look at.

It will be a very informal chat and I'll be happy to field questions at the end about the challenges of getting it together, the specific pieces or just a little hygiene chat!

The class is open to everyone, it will be on Google Meet. The limit is 100 participants. The link is below.

Google Meet joining info. Video call link: https://meet.google.com/hjw-pqzy-nzr

I hope you'll join me!

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Bath Countdown

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 12:00:37 GMT

The countdown is on the the first public outing of the bath house and I'm so excited. Bits and pieces are arriving and it's really coming together.

I'm still very undecided on the use of the linen in the tub as so many of the images clearly show a tub without bath sheets. They're a cool addition, but are they so common I should be doing it?

Perhaps not.

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