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咱们大清故宫博物院的数字文物库内，有六把历代尿壶，和叁个其貌不扬的锡便盆。尿壶大家都知道，那是男人撒尿用的虎子，材质从战国的错金银到汉代的青铜器再在到隋唐的青瓷，应有尽有。可是到了锡便盆（故00205963、故00205445、故00205962），就没文字介绍了。但明眼人都会想到那是谁用过的，以及当时那人干那事的时候，前呼后拥，会有多大的排场。

那麽同时期的英国女王出恭或小解的时候，是什麽个阵仗呢？记得当年去白德福公爵家参观的时候，见过伊丽莎白一世的画像和维多利亚女王曾经下榻过的房间，也是明黄的床帐，公爵和公爵夫人的藏品中有一双大清皇室进贡的黄缎子面的叁寸金莲的鞋子，印象中还有一个乾隆外销漆的茶叶盒和一个景德镇烧制的康熙五彩马桶。

可惜的是当时没有照相，仅凭记忆和感觉。最近在网上看到两位历史爱好者写的博客，讲述了十八十九世纪英国上流社会女士们最时髦用的马子，马子的发明史和马子的用法，以及英国绅士，是如何解决小便问题的。

1、英国马子，女士专用：

Oval chamber pots such as these ones have been known since the 1700s as bourdaloues. With its curious shape, it looks like a gravy boat. However, makes no mistake, the Bourdaloue is nothing else than a chamber pot exclusively designed for women.

2、英国马子的用法：

This image by Francois Boucher says it all. A fully dressed lady is relieving herself into an object called the bourdaloue or bourdalou, careful not to soil her skirts. Her maid, no doubt, stands nearby, waiting to receive the small chamber pot in order to empty it. The lady (or woman of ill repute) is in a public place – a theatre or tavern, perhaps – but certainly not a church. Wherever she is, the place has no public toilet. And so she must relieve herself standing up, taking care not to soil her skirt and petticoats.

这种小便器，娇小可爱，非常方便和隐秘，于是就非常的时髦，在西方上流社会，推广开来了。而这种小便器，也被叫做了帮她漏（Bourdaloue），翻译成中文，就是清国传统文化中马子的意思了。

Bourdaloues were chamber pots designed specifically for women wearing such garments. With the assistance of a lady’s maid, they could be slipped beneath skirts and petticoats, employed while standing, and then discretely carried away. Some versions were more practical and fashioned of tin or leather. Many included a lid, perfect for use during a long journey by carriage. Even when skirts shrank in size towards the end of 18th c., the bourdaloue was deemed too practical an item to abandon. They remained in use throughout the Victorian era.

3、英国马子的发明人，是个法国人。

他是法国皇帝路易十四的牧师 - 路易斯帮她漏（Louis Bourdaloue,1632-1704)。历史上的帮她漏，是一位天才的演说家，讲道的时候滔滔不绝口若悬河，可以带功说法经天经夜，不吃不喝不休息，原因是他有独门秘诀。

Portrait of French Jesuit Louis Bourdaloue, 大英博物馆藏

法国和英国的皇亲国戚，和上流社会的女眷们，为了一字不拉地听帮大师摆龙门阵，就群起效尤帮她漏，事先也为每人都准备了一个小巧玲珑的马子，由女佣和仆人端着，只要喊一声帮她漏，就可以随时随地，解决女士们内急和小便的问题了。

The origins of this unconventionally shaped chamber pot bear connection to the figure of the renowned French preacher, Jesuit Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704). In the second half of the 17th century, Bourdaloue was recognized as one of the greatest orators who delivered sermons also at the court of Louis XIV de Bourbon (1638–1715, King of France 1643–1715) in Versailles. They were said to be extremely interesting, but also very long, which confronted the audience with problems of physiological nature. In order to avoid skipping the sermons, ladies began to bring sauce boats which allowed them to ease themselves unnoticed without going out of the chapel. Legend has it that these objects were named after the Jesuit priest Père Louis Bourdaloue, who preached at the court of Louis XIV. Bourdaloue's sermons were apparently so long that the ladies at court asked their maids to supply them with chamber pots so that they would not be forced to leave and miss any of his wisdom. Others guess that Bourdoloue himself needed the vessel during his own sermons as he suffered from the disease hypospadias.

需要是发明之母，有了小便盆，就演化出来了大便盆。有了女便盆，自然也就出来了男便盆，顺理成章。中国历代的改革之所以功亏一篑，就是因为反其道而行，重男轻女。假如历史上先有马子，后有虎子，马马虎虎，厕所革命，就不至于虎头马尾，不了了之了，算是一个题外话。

The idea gained popularity and faience manufacturers soon launched the production of small women’s chamber pots – pot de Chambre ovale, also known as bourdaloue. They differed from sauce boats in their edge folded inside with no spout and the lack of base. Owing to their properly designed shape, which guaranteed discreet use, chamber pots proved extremely useful and convenient during lengthy journeys, which is why they are also known as coach pots in England. In the 18th century, they gained popularity all across Europe, including in Warsaw.