Bidet
Bidé
- Date
- c. 1710 · confidence low
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- French cabinetmakers and joiners
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A low, oblong basin on a wooden frame for washing the genital area, straddled by the user. It appears in 18th-century France and is associated with high society before spreading in Latin, Arab and Asian countries.
The first mentions of 'bidet' are French, c. 1700-1739; the origin and inventor are debated and Christophe des Rosiers is cited without certainty.
What it led to
- intimate washing with water in bourgeois homes
- the porcelain bidet beside the toilet in the bathroom
- the toilet seat with a water jet