Tales from the toilet

Library is a toilet from the 18th century designed to look like a pile of books. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

In the exhibition, there is an iron bathtub was elaborately designed to imitate the shape of a body, so that the user can sit comfortably in it.

In 1775, a watchmaker in London named Alexander Cumming built the first modern toilet. His use of the siphon successfully reduced the foul air and sealed the water tank automatically after every flush.

In the late 19th century porcelain started to be used in sanitary and bathroom wares. In 1870, a potter from Britain invented the first porcelain toilet. It was easy to clean and cheaper to build, and signified a big leap in the development of toilets.

The Dolphin is from that period. The ceramic toilet decorated with blue patterns is believed to have been created for Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Empress Sissi.

The dolphin-shaped decoration was often used by Empress Sissi in her Corfu Palace. The same toilet appeared in Sissi's other palaces. This has convinced scholars that the Dolphin toilet was specially manufactured for her.

The Dolphin looks very much like a modern toilet, except for a dolphin-shaped siphon, a rare and exquisite design. Known as "the master of toilet", the toilet on show was once installed in the Palace of El Mirador in Vienna that was owned by Prince Eugen of Savoy.

"The exhibition is a miniature of sanitary history. Roca is trying to show the full retrospective evolution of bathroom space through different functional products which form simple requirement to take the health, well-being and sustainability in mind." Says Emilio Salazar, general manager of Roca China.

The company from Barcelona, Spain has a history of almost 100 years and started to make vitreous china bathroom appliances in 1936.