Bidets or 'chaises bidets' (bidet chairs) came into general use in the middle of the eighteenth century in France and became a useful aid to personal hygiene. This one, with lively carving in the Rococo style, was probably made in the second half of the nineteenth century, perhaps to deceive an early collector of antiques. The bowl, of tin-glazed earthenware, is from the Moustiers factory. Its dimpled surface may be evidence that it has been refired, to fix later decoration.