Retro antique brass shower system with shelf and handset

On a period-style shower column you often look for somewhere to put the shampoo. This one has an oval gallery shelf fixed to the tube at mid-height: an openwork rim holds the bottles, and water drains through the base.

In the photos, it holds two pump bottles without getting in the way. No need to drill for a shelf: everything stays on the column.

The gallery sits at hand height, between the mixer and the handset. The shampoo stays visible and you no longer have to bend down to the shower floor to find it. The openwork tray rinses clean under the handset in a few seconds.

The wall-mounted mixer has a rounded body and a flat lever that you lift to turn on. You turn it to balance hot and cold water.

On the tube, a small side lever directs the water to the rain shower head or to the handset with its bulbous handle. The rain shower head is 200 mm across and sits at the end of a 330 mm arm.

The aged brass finish has brown shades that vary with the light: that's intentional, not a defect. The arm keeps the rain away from the wall: you stand under the head without pressing against the tiles.

The dimensioned photo gives an adjustable height from 850 to 1,320 mm. Measure from your mixer to the ceiling to check the available space.

The mixer screws onto two wall supplies, hot and cold, then the tube is fixed to the wall with a few screws. If you're replacing an old shower mixer, the supplies are already in place.

To keep the patina, clean with mild soap, rinse and dry. An acidic descaler or a scouring sponge would attack the finish. In hard water areas, also wipe the rain shower head after use to prevent deposits between the nozzles.