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Bathing practices, Ambom, Indonesia (20th Century)*

Artist/Designer: Indonesian

Project Location: Indonesia

Figure 1: Mevrouw Tolk and her bathroom, Ambon, 1914 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 2: Javanese bathing in a stream, Lampung, circa 1940 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 3: Public bathing and toilet facilities for
Indonesians, Palembang, circa 1932 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 4: Foltynski family at a swimming pool,
Bandung, 1925 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 5: Royal bathing place, Ambarwinangun,
Yogyakarta, 1895 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 6: Two boys bathing cattle in a river, Bali, circa 1920 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 7: European men interned as Nazi sympathizers on
latrines, Ngawi, 1940 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 8: Swimming pool and poster,
Bandung, 1925 ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: KITLV Archive )
Figure 9: Washing your hair in Java; shampoo ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: Unknown )
Figure 10: ‘LIFEBUOY not only refreshes you, but it also prevents you
from B.O. (Body Odour).’ Lifebuoy advertisement,
published in De Politie, 1937. ( Source | Accessed : February 25, 2020 | Photographer: Unknown )
Figure 11: The bathroom had become a separate part of the house, with tiled walls and floors that could be kept clean easily. Towards the end of the 19th century the copper bathtub was being more and more replaced by the enamelled bathtub. Also here hygiene played a major role, enamel was much easier to clean than the copper tubs. The items these companies sold were sometimes customized for the Dutch market. ( Source | Accessed : April 14, 2020 | Photographer: Unknown )
Figure 12: In the West (Netherlands) : Free-standing showers were rare at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The first showers had a water tank that had to be filled with (warm) water and that was placed over a round zinc shower tray. ( Source | Accessed : April 14, 2020 | Photographer: Unknown )
Figure 13: A separate shower was only for the most exclusive bathrooms. In that case there often was a stand-alone cast-iron shower tray on legs or porcelain tray with a shower over it or a complicated cage like construction that gave water from the sides. In fact, it was not till after the Second World War that a separate shower in the bathroom became standard. ( Source | Accessed : April 14, 2020 | Photographer: Unknown )

Style/Period(s):
Vernacular

Primary Material(s):
Water, Brick

Function(s):
No Function Assigned.

Related Website(s):

Culture and customs of Indonesia | Accessed : June 4, 2020
Washing your hair in Java | Accessed : June 4, 2020
Indonesian Bathroom | Accessed : June 4, 2020
Hand washing culture | Accessed : June 4, 2020
Bathing in Indonesia | Accessed : December 3, 2020
UNICEF Water in Indonesia | Accessed : December 3, 2020
Off Beat Home | Accessed : December 3, 2020
Life in Indonesia | Accessed : December 3, 2020

Significant Date(s):
20th Century

Additional Information:
Documented through the lens of a colonial camera, the images tell us that rivers functioned as bathrooms and laundry for the majority of native Indonesians. Jean Gelman writes, the abundance of rivers and warm temperatures in Indonesia made bathing practical, rather than building bathhouses that were the solution for cold climates or environments where water was scarce. Piped water hadn’t yet become a part of most neighborhoods in these colonies. So most people had to walk to water sources and carry water back home for drinking and cooking. The Europeans adopted Asian personal habits of daily bathing when the Dutch immigrants came to settle in the colony. The bathroom with its tiled water tank and dipper became a fixture of the Dutch house in the Indies long before Dutch houses in the Netherlands acquired a separate room dedicated to personal bathing.

Publications/ Texts in print:

Taylor, Jean Gelman. "Bathing and Hygiene Histories from the KITLV Images Archive." In Cleanliness and Culture: Indonesian Histories, edited by VAN DIJK KEES and TAYLOR JEAN GELMAN, 41-60. Brill, 2011.

Building Address: Multiple locations including Royal bathing place, Ambarwinangun, Yogyakarta; Swimming pool, Bandung; River, Bali; Palembang, circa

Significant Dates: Documented in 1895, 1914, 1925, 1932, 1940

Tags: Indonesia, Dutch colonisation, Bathing practices, Public bathing, Ethnography, Archeological sites,, Bath culture, Bathing culture, Bathing, aqueous, hygiene, hygienic, health, Water, Brick, Ambom, 20th Century

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