Antique brass double-outlet garden tap with cross handles

Cross handles with four arms ending in a ball used to fit our grandparents’ taps. You grasp them with your whole hand, even wet, and they turn without slipping. This tap has two: one on top, the other on the side.

The brass is brushed, in an aged shade without shine. The photos show it as readily above a bathroom basin as at the end of a garden hose: it suits an old house, a longère or a paved courtyard. It readily replaces a worn old courtyard tap, without betraying the style of the façade.

Each cross handle controls its own outlet. The spout, at the front, runs freely: it fills a watering can or a bucket. The manufacturer supplies an aerator, which softens the jet. Under the body, a second outlet with a nozzle takes a garden hose.

Both can run at the same time, as in the photo where the two jets fall side by side. It closes with a ball valve and a ceramic core, according to the manufacturer. In practice, the spout is for the bucket or watering can, the low outlet for the garden hose wound on its reel, which no longer needs to be disconnected between uses.

The tap measures 12.2 cm high and 11 cm wide. Its inlet is threaded G1/2, i.e. 15x21, the most common wall outlet.

A decorative flange and a PTFE tape roll are included; the manufacturer states that their model and colour are sent at random. Wind the tape in the direction of screwing and tighten until the top cross handle is straight. In winter, turn off the supply and open both cross handles to empty the brass. UK delivery is free.