Do you know what a night chair is? They are probably not in use in Norway anymore today, but before the introduction of the water closet, this was something you could find in wealthy homes.
Although we find descriptions of a form of water closet dating back to ancient times, it was not until the 1900s that water closets as we know them today became common in Norway. Before that, so-called outdoor toilets were used; small separate buildings, preferably with a small bench with a hole in it that you could do your business in.
During the day, this solution probably worked fine, but what about at night? And what was it like to have to run out in the middle of winter in the dark when the need arose?
A solution for many to this particular problem was the so-called night potty under the bed. Then you could solve the problem without having to dig through snow and darkness.
But in the slightly nicer circles, it wasn’t enough to have a pot under the bed, was it? Surely it felt like a humiliation to have to put your hand under the bed, find the potty and then crouch down in the dark?
Of course, the rich had a solution to this. With the night chair in the bedroom, you could lift the seat off an otherwise ordinary-looking chair and sit comfortably while doing the deed. No need to crouch down or other embarrassments.
Under the opening of the chair was naturally the same type of pot that would otherwise have been under the bed, but now the master of the house did not have to think anything of it.
And of course, one of the servants came in in the morning and emptied the pot, so it was ready for use again in the evening.
The depicted night chair belonged to the wealthy jekt skipper Henrik Dinclow Bruun (1776-1827) on Børøya and is today part of the collection at Melbo Manor.