Rub-a-Double-Tub

Rub-a-Double-Tub A bath's a fine and private place, And some, I think, do there embrace.

The message in the window of a bathroom boutique in London's elegant Mayfair district has a familiar ring. It is a takeoff on a couplet* from 17th century English Poet Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress." There is nothing familiar about the bathtub for sale inside. It measures a hearty 24 sq. ft., is meant for two--preferably not square--bathers, and is fast becoming the new style in ablutions for the luxury trade around the world.

The British supertub is called the "Sagittarius Double Bath" and costs about $750. It was conceived two years ago, by British Interior Decorator Godfrey Bonsack, merely as an oversized one-man tub. "I'm short and fat," explains Bonsack, "and I wanted a raised step on one end for soaping, and then to be able to turn around and stretch out from the other end for soaking. But then, I thought, the four-foot width was just right; wouldn't it be fun if two people used it together?" Yes, indeed, agreed the several hundred customers who have already taken the Sagittarius home. They had no difficulty matching the decor of their bathrooms; the tubs come in a choice of 2,000 different colors or laminated fabrics. One popular version has leather panels and a double headrest--always "good for reading," Bonsack says, "on the off-chance that you are alone."

Other designers have also drawn double baths. The 1966 Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalogue, for example, portrayed a "His and Hers Bathtub" complete with lacquered wood base, marble top and backboard, and gold-plated faucets. But it was more twin than double; the tubs were separate, merely welded together, and cost $4,000, plus tax, shipping and installation. Godfrey Bonsack sniffs at the very idea. "If you can't even agree on the same water temperature," he says, "you shouldn't have a bath together."

Bonsack's bathtubs, on the other hand, encourage togetherness. In addition to the Sagittarius, there is a "Gemini" tub (in which bathers sit face to face, using built-in armrests on either side) and a completely round "Moon Bath" for "the young elegant man with lots of girl friends." The line is so successful that Bonsack has exported it to the U.S., opening department-store bathing boutiques at Woodward & Lothrop in Washington, D.C., John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago and Halle Brothers in Cleveland. The bridal suite at the Springbok Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, features a Sagittarius as its prime attraction, and others are on order for hotels in France, Germany and Kuwait.

Designer Bonsack, 60, practices what he preaches. "About the only time I see my wife now," he says, "is in the bathtub. I'm too old, really; I can't take yes for an answer any more. But when I was young, it would have been wonderful." As it is, Godfrey Bonsack is the happiest clean old man around.

* The grave's a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.

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