Rude jokes and toilet humour are certainly not new concepts. If you are sensitive to them, please stop reading now! I’m sure toilet humour dates back thousands of years, but the example I’m going to share with you today is from around 1820-1850.
Chamber pot, potty, po or gazunder – call it what you like, this item of necessity is instantly recognisable and was for years a very important item to keep in the bedroom.
The one I am showcasing today is perhaps more of a decorative item than a utilitarian one. The frogs (or whatever they are) climbing up the inside wall might have made it difficult to clean. If anybody reading this has any idea what those little frog-like creatures are for, I would be grateful if you let me know using the comment tool at the bottom.
The transfer printed portrait of a man in the bottom is presented with a little rhyme – though a little bit worn it isn’t hard to work out what it originally said. “Use me well, keep me clean. I will not tell what I have seen.” I’m glad he’s not willing to tell me the things he’s seen. The poor chap must have a few horror stories.
On either side there are slightly more risque poems – I won’t type them out as they are quite clear in the images. Unfortunately, this wonderful example of antique lustre ware is quite badly broken. It originally had two handles and it is cracked through the body, but is still a brilliant item.
As a matter of interest, the style of pottery we are looking at is known as Sunderland Lustre or Pink Lustre. Gold was used in the glaze which turns pink when fired and the mottled effect was made by dripping oil onto the glaze before firing. I’m no expert so I can’t say exactly when and where this piece was made; factories as far south as Staffordshire were producing pink lustreware throughout the 19th century but this mottled effect is very typical of the Sunderland factories.
