# Chamber pot

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chamber_pot
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chamber_pot.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_pot
> Source revision: 1347766474
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Portable toilet

"Arinola" redirects here. For the given name, see [Arinola (given name)](/source/Arinola_(given_name)).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Chamber pot" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Japanese chamber pot from the [Edo period](/source/Edo_period)

Chamber pot in Westerwald ceramics, early 18th century. Archeological find from [Bruges](/source/Bruges).

A **chamber pot** is a [portable toilet](/source/Portable_toilet), meant for nocturnal use in the bedroom. It was common in many cultures before the advent of [indoor plumbing](/source/Indoor_plumbing) and [flushing toilets](/source/Flushing_toilet).

## Names and etymology

"Chamber" is an older term for bedroom. The chamber pot is also known as a **Jordan**,[1][2] a **jerry**, a **guzunder**, a **po** (possibly from [French](/source/French_language): *pot de chambre*), a **potty pot**, a **potty**, a **thunder pot**, or a **thunder mug**. It was also known as a **chamber utensil** or **bedroom ware**.

## History

Chamber pots were used in [ancient Greece](/source/Ancient_Greece) at least since the 6th century BC and were known under different names: ἀμίς (*amis*),[3] οὐράνη (*ouranē*)[4] and οὐρητρίς (*ourētris*,[5] from οὖρον - *ouron*, "urine"[6]), σκωραμίς / (*skōramis*), χερνίβιον (*chernibion*).[7]

The introduction of indoor [flush toilets](/source/Flush_toilet) started to displace chamber pots in the 19th century, but they remained common until the mid-20th century.[8] The alternative to using the chamber pot was a trip to the [outhouse](/source/Outhouse).

In China, the chamber pot (便壶 (biàn hú) was common. A wealthy [salt merchant in the city of Yangzhou](/source/Salt_in_Chinese_history#The_moral_debate_over_salt_and_society) became the symbol of conspicuous excess when he commissioned a chamber pot made of gold which was so tall that he had to climb a ladder to use it.[9]

Blue-glazed Chinese urinal chamber pot. [Western Jin](/source/Western_Jin) (265 A.D.–316 A.D.), on display at Zhangjiagang Museum in [Zhangjiagang](/source/Zhangjiagang), China.

## Modern use

Plastic adult chamber pot

Chamber pots continue in use today[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chamber_pot&action=edit) in areas lacking indoor plumbing.

In the Philippines, chamber pots are used as [urinals](/source/Urinal) and are known as *arinola* in most [Philippine languages](/source/Languages_of_the_Philippines), such as [Cebuano](/source/Cebuano_language)[10] and [Tagalog](/source/Tagalog_language).

In Korea, chamber pots are referred to as *yogang* (요강). They were used by people who did not have indoor plumbing to avoid the cold elements during the winter months.

### Children's potties

Main article: [Potty chair](/source/Potty_chair)

Simple plastic [baby's potty](/source/Potty_chair)

The term "potty" is usually used to refer to the small, toilet-shaped devices made especially for children training to use the toilet, also called [potty training](/source/Toilet_training), which are similar to chamber pots.[11] These potties are generally a large plastic bowl with an ergonomically designed back and front to protect against splashes. They may have a built-in handle or grasp at the back to allow easy emptying and a non-slip bottom to prevent the child from sliding while in use. Some are given bright colors, and others may feature gentle or unoffensive drawings or cartoon characters. In many cases they are used since it is difficult for children to maneuver themselves up onto the normal toilet; in addition the larger opening in the regular toilet is much too wide for a child to sit over comfortably and can be intimidating when they first start learning.[12] The size of a potty chair means they can be packed away in a bag for days out or when camping with young children.

## Shapes and related items

Three *bourdaloues*

A chamber pot might be disguised in a sort of chair (a [close stool](/source/Close_stool)). It might be stored in a [cabinet](/source/Cabinet_(furniture)) with doors to hide it; this sort of [nightstand](/source/Nightstand) was known as a [commode](/source/Commode), hence the latter word came to mean "toilet" as well. For homes without these items of furniture, the chamber pot was stored under the bed.

The modern [commode toilet](/source/Commode_chair) and [bedpan](/source/Bedpan), used by bedbound or disabled persons, are variants of the chamber pot.

A related item was the *bourdalou* or *bourdaloue*, a small handheld oblong ceramic pot used in 17th- and 18th-century France to allow women to urinate conveniently. This item, similar in shape to a deep [gravy boat](/source/Gravy_boat), could be held between the legs and urinated into while standing or crouching, with little risk of soiling their clothing. At the time, women did not customarily wear two-legged underwear as today.[13]

## Cultural references

"[The Crabfish](/source/The_Crabfish)" is a 17th-century folk song about what is most likely a [common lobster](/source/Common_lobster), stored in a chamber pot by an unwise fisherman. The moral of the song is that one should look into a chamberpot before using it.

[Philippine mythology](/source/Philippine_mythology) recounts that giving newlyweds a chamber pot assures them of prosperity. [President](/source/President_of_the_Philippines) [Elpidio Quirino](/source/Elpidio_Quirino), as part of a [smear campaign](/source/Smear_campaign) against him, was falsely rumoured to possess a golden *arinola*.[14]

In his satire *[Utopia](/source/Utopia_(More_book))*, [Thomas More](/source/Thomas_More) had chamberpots made out of gold.

## See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Chamber pots](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Chamber_pots).

- [History of water supply and sanitation](/source/History_of_water_supply_and_sanitation)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "jordan". *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* (2nd ed.). [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). 1989.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Shakespeare's World in a 100 Objects: Number 1, a "jordan""](http://findingshakespeare.co.uk/shakespeares-world-in-a-100-objects-number-1-a-jordan). *findingshakespeare.co.uk*. 13 December 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [chamber ἀμίς](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=a)mi/s&highlight=). [Liddell, Henry George](/source/Henry_Liddell); [Scott, Robert](/source/Robert_Scott_(philologist)); *[A Greek–English Lexicon](/source/A_Greek%E2%80%93English_Lexicon)* at the [Perseus Project](/source/Perseus_Project).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [οὐράνη](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ou)ra/nh&highlight=chamber) in [Liddell](/source/Henry_Liddell) and [Scott](/source/Robert_Scott_(philologist)).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [οὐρητρίς](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ou)rhtri/s&highlight=chamber) in [Liddell](/source/Henry_Liddell) and [Scott](/source/Robert_Scott_(philologist)).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [οὖρον](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ou)=ron1) in [Liddell](/source/Henry_Liddell) and [Scott](/source/Robert_Scott_(philologist)).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [χερνίβιον](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=xerni/bion&highlight=chamber) in [Liddell](/source/Henry_Liddell) and [Scott](/source/Robert_Scott_(philologist)).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Dahl, Roald (1984). *Boy: Tales of Childhood*. [Penguin Group](/source/Penguin_Group). p. 80. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780698161870](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780698161870).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Ping-Ti Ho, "The Salt Merchants of Yang-Chou: A Study of Commercial Capitalism in Eighteenth-Century China," *Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies*17.1/2 (1954): 130-168.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Wolff, John U. (1972). ["arinúla"](https://seapdatapapers.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=seap&cc=seap&idno=seap085a&node=seap085a%3A11&view=image&seq=80&size=200). *A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan*. p. 56.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** AgecroftHall (2020-12-13). ["Chamber Pot"](https://www.agecrofthall.org/single-post/chamber-pot). *Agecroft*. Retrieved 2024-08-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Grucza, Ariel. ["What to Know About Potty Chairs"](https://www.webmd.com/parenting/what-to-know-about-potty-chairs). *WebMD*. Retrieved 2024-08-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Vergé-Franceschi, Michel (2006). *La société française au XVIIe siècle*. Fayard. p. 396.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Ocampo, Ambeth (9 March 2010). ["'Mambo Magsaysay' and Quirino's golden 'orinola"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130927085919/http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100309-257665/Mambo-Magsaysay-and-Quirinos-golden-orinola). *Inquirer*. Archived from [the original](http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100309-257665/Mambo-Magsaysay-and-Quirinos-golden-orinola) on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 26 September 2013.

v t e Toilets Equipment Ballcock Bedpan Bidet Bidet shower Brush Cistern Commode Electronic bidet Flushometer Pee curl Pissoir Sanitary bin Seat Toilet seat riser Toilet Toilet cleaner Toilet paper Holder Orientation Toilet rim block Trap (U-bend) Urinal deodorizer block Types Accessible Aircraft Arborloo Blair Bucket Cathole Chemical Composting Container-based Dry Dual flush EToilet Flush Freezing Head Hudo Incinerating Intelligent Latrine Low-flush On-board Passenger train Pay Pig Pit Portable Potty Public Sanisette Sink Space Squat Telescopic Treebog Urinal Female Pollee Sanistand Health care Interactive Urine-diverting dry Vacuum Vermifilter Washlet Cultural and policy aspects Adult diaper Bathroom bill Bathroom privileges Bathroom reading Brown Friday Ecological sanitation Fatberg Fine to Flush History of water supply and sanitation Honeywagon Human right to water and sanitation Improved sanitation Incontinence pad Infection prevention and control Islamic toilet etiquette Istinja Latrinalia Mariko Aoki phenomenon Privatization of public toilets Public health Sanitation Sustainable sanitation Sewage treatment Swachh Bharat Mission Toilet god Toilet humour Skibidi Toilet Toilet meal Toilet plume Toilet-related injuries and deaths List of deaths Erfurt latrine disaster Toilet Revolution in China Toilet Twinning Unisex public toilet Vacuum truck Waste management World Toilet Day Workers' right to access the toilet Jobs and activities Groom of the Stool Manual scavenging Restroom attendant Sanitation worker Slopping out Toilet training Toileting Urine-related aspects Female urination device Urination Urine collection device Urine deflector Urine diversion Urolagnia Urophagia Feces-related aspects Anal hygiene Coprophilia Coprophagia Defecation Defecation postures Fecal sludge management Flying toilet Open defecation Reuse of human excreta Scatology Places Changing room Unisex changing rooms Haewoojae Hundertwasser Toilets Lavatory Madeleine Madison Museum of Bathroom Tissue Modern Toilet Restaurant National Poo Museum Outhouse Rest area Shit Museum Sulabh International Museum of Toilets Toilet (room) Toilet History Museum Public toilets in Bratislava Toilets in Japan Toilets in New York City Bryant Park restroom Historical terms Aphedron Chamber pot Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pail closet Pecunia non olet Privy midden Reredorter

Authority control databases International GND National Czech Republic Israel Other Yale LUX

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chamber pot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_pot) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_pot?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.