A basin 'to lave her dainty hands'

摘要

Thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic, frequent and lengthy handwashing - preferably as long as it takes to sing 'Happy Birthday' twice over - has become de rigueur for most of us in today's world. But even though our 17th-century forebears did not believe in daily or even frequent immersions in water, many practiced regular washing of hands and face. Contrary to prevailing assumptions about the lack of bodily cleanliness before our modern age, Susan North argues in her recent book that the importance of regular ablutions in the past is reflected in the many basins and ewers documented as courtly gifts and listed in inventories, household accounts and other historical narratives.