Antique Franz Anton Mehlem Royal Bonn Wash Basin

May 21, 2021

Video Translation: Hi, This is Jennifer here with City Farmhouse Antiques and I am here with another find of the week. Of all the pieces I got on the last trip that I made this is really one of my favorite pieces. I just cannot get it out of my mind. I just love it and I can't seem to find another one like it online anywhere when I did my research which means valuable! There you can see your first hint. This is an antique wash basin. These date back to the 1800's. It is big, very heavy, and a very substantial piece and absolutely gorgeous I might add. This is a very rare piece. I don't find anything like it anywhere. These antique wash basins typically would be placed on top of an antique wash cabinet with a slab of marble on top to protect the table since there was water in the basin. They may come with pitchers or some pieces come as sets. I don't know that this one had a set, but this is a large, very, very rare antique Royal Bonn wash basin. You can see the detail on this piece. Look at the face. It is old, I am guessing late 1800's. You can see the crazing which is going to be normal for a piece this old. Here you can see what crazing looks like these little fine lines in the piece. You will see crazing in old antique ceramic and porcelain pieces. They look like hairline cracks within the texture of the piece, again normal with age. A piece like this is not going to look perfect. You would not want it to look perfect or then you would know it is not old. This piece is in excellent condition. It is a pale yellow that goes into a chartreuse green and then has these beautiful pink handles. There you can see the handles from the side. I will turn it over in a second. Royal Bonn was the 19th and 20th century trade name used by Franz Anton Mehlem who produced pottery in Bonn Germany from 1836 to 1931 and make a lot of porcelain and earthenware piece. Royal Bonn used a tower trademark so you will see that on the bottom. The word Germany also appears on the bottom and was added on exported pieces just like this one. In 1921 the factory was purchased by Villeroy & Boch. Like I said, I don't find another piece like it and it would have been used for bathing or what we call a little spit bath. Here you can see a little blemish. Let's measure it so you can see how large it is. It is about 6.5 inches tall at the handle. It is large enough to put a baby in for a bath. That is what it made me think of when I first saw it. It is about 15 inches across width wise and length is about 22 inches. So very substantial piece. The bottom is very interesting. I am going to try to flip this over. There you can see the leaf design on the side. You can see the leaves are etched with gold gild all around the side of the piece. There you can see some of the crazing again. The bottom has like a darker reddish pink rim. There is the makers mark showing the tower trademark and here is a second mark as well. Let's see if I can get a closer view for you. Right there. Just a beautiful piece. So that is an antique was basin. It will be up on our website with other one of a kind antiques and collectibles. I always try to find unique pieces. This one just captured my heart because of how unique it is and the face on front. It is just a beautiful, beautiful, antique piece and what a piece of history as all antiques are. Be sure and check out all our antiques, collectibles, and home and garden decor on our website at www.cityfarmhouseantiques.com. and go give us a like on Facebook. Let us know what you collect and how you would use this piece in your home. I think this piece would be beautiful in a historic hotel or bed and bath where they have these types of pieces or I see this piece finding its forever home with a collector. Take care.