Bidets

A bidet is a low, narrow basin intended for washing the anal and genital areas after using the water closet (toilet), although it may also be used as a footbath. The name is derived from the French word for a little pony, referring to the action of stepping astride it. Portable bidet pans were in use in France from the early eighteenth century. The Marquise de Pompadour, the mistress of the Louis XV, had two bidets, one with a rosewood surround and the other in walnut. Fixed pedestal bidets became available in the late nineteenth century when indoor plumbing and water closets became more widespread. For example, W. R. Maguire patented a combined water closet and bidet in 1888. After World War II, bidets began to lose their luxury status, but they are still uncommon outside France and other parts of continental Europe. Today, in addition to the basic type of bidet filled by hot and cold taps above the rim, there are bidets that feature an internal rising spray.