French Chamberpot. A Tribute To Duchamp (Art no.8) by sandra46
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
This is a chamberpot from the Museum of Savoy in Chambéry, France. The museum hosts items from the local past, a witness to the popular culture and way of life of the 19th and early 20th century. When houses didn't have bathrooms, chamberpots were under every bed. I still remember those in my granny's house. Some of them had saucy sentences, others had an eye painted on the bottom. Typical peasant humor. This one says: L'amour c'est deux indefrisables sur le meme bigoudis. A sexual joke meaning Love is two perm curls on the same curler. In French argot bigoudi is a synonym for penis.
This is a tribute to Duchamp's Fountain, but while that urinal winked at male sexuality, my potty has a more feminine connotation. After many beautiful masterpieces, I hope you'll enjoy a bit of playfulness.
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. He influenced the development of post-World War I Western art, not only as an artist, but also as an advisor for modern art collectors, such as Peggy Guggenheim and other prominent figures. A playful man, Duchamp challenged conventional thought about artistic processes and art marketing through subversive actions such as dubbing a urinal art and naming it Fountain. He believed that 'The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.'
Fountain is a 1917 work, one of the pieces which he called readymades (also known as found art), because he made use of an already existing object—in this case a urinal, which he titled signed R. Mutt from the J. L. Mott Iron Works, 118 Fifth Avenue,New York, where he had bought the urinal, but he altered it to Mutt, after the daily cartoon strip Mutt and Jeff. The art show to which Duchamp submitted the piece stated that all works would be accepted, but Fountain was not actually displayed, and the original has been lost. Replicas commissioned by Duchamp in the 1960s are now on display in a number of different museums. In December 2004, Duchamp's Fountain was voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century by 500 selected British art world professionals.
Thank you for your kind comments.

Comments (42)
I remember the pots from my chilhood, living in a remote village without electricity and proper sanitation. I love your shot and the work youv'e 'done on it'. Lol.
Fantastic image and info!!!
EXCELLENT ! Good recall of old manners ! Excellent. For the Art of Africa you make what you want, because A find t(he photographies, then A send to B, B send to C...etc... Claude send to Sandra ! O.K. ?
FANTASTICA.
Nice work and postwork, well done...
Sandra, this one really was a lot of fun and gave me a big smile this morning. Seeing the image and reading the fascinating story behind the chamberpot art was very enjoyable. You always do such a great job of sharing the history behind the art as well as personal thoughts and memories of your own that really are such a pleasure to hear.
Cool image!!
Great fun, Sandra!! Thankyou for a giggle.
un ustensile tres utile autrefois!!!bonne photo!
Nice work Sandra~
wonderful colors and work!
Very cute capture! Thanks for the chuckle and bit of history
so many information - cool postwork
Most unique and creative postwork...!
C'est la première fois que je vois des inscriptions sur des pots de chambre, et celle-ci ne manque pas d'humour! Une photo créative et un commentaire très intéressant. J'aime beaucoup !
Very nice image and information! Great shot.
Very interesting information my dear friend, great image, loved it!
Very interesting story. Nice potty, LOL!
Fantastic photography
Incredibile ! Mai e poi mai avrei pensato a un movimento artistico su questo oggetto , a suo tempo , molto comune !Ora , grazie a te , so anche questo.
Fantastic postwork, you turned this potty into fine art! LOL
wonderful shot
A fun image and information but oh how I love modern plumbing!
Nice shot and info Sandra The urinal well I never.. well actual we packed an old outhouse (outside wooden toilet that goes over a hole in the ground for young ones who may have never heard of them) once that was going from here (NZ) to Australia to an art gallery and display over there. It was the genuine thing to and was falling apart lol.. I just wonder after reading this how "Duchamp's Fountain was voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century by 500 selected British art world professionals." does this mean Art is gone down the toilet in the 20th century..
Wonderful shot!
Great image. Fantastic postwork and interesting informations.
WEll, if a soup can can be art, why not a chamberpot?
ah sandra you are my art guide i always look forward to see and read your detailed iformation about this and that. why not a sh..sorry chamberpot ??lol. i rember as a kid we had one of these although not soo beautiful,we had the john outside of the house. in luxembourg in the old times in the lower parts of the fortress,people just dropped their waste in the streets .hehehe. if interseted and i am sure you are go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_Castle
Another wonderful art, excellent capture Sandra. love the information too.
Excellent! Have a great day!