The Chamber Pot: Culture Contained (2004)

November 15 – December 31, 2004

Is there a cultural story in your toilet? What about in a chamber pot? Chamber pots have largely been neglected by the academic community and polite circles due to their less than savory connotations. This exhibit of chamber pots from 1450 to 1940 looks at the field of material culture as an approach to studying objects, analyzing the shifting cultural values embodied in the use of and production of chamber pots. The show ran from November 15th until December 31st, 2004.

Curated by Matthew Baumann, Meghan Doherty, Matthew Harris, Ellen Hickman, Andrea Hoffman, Anna Huntley, Margaret Lee, Philip Lyons, Cory Pillen, and Sooyun Sohn (graduate students in Art History 800, “Ceramics in America,” taught by Professor Ann Smart Martin).

Image:  chamber pot