<P> The bidet appears to have been an invention of French furniture makers in the late 17th century, although no exact date or inventor is known . The earliest written reference to the bidet is in 1726 in Italy . Even though there are records of Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily, requesting a bidet for her personal bathroom in the Royal Palace of Caserta in the second half of the 18th century, the bidet did not diffuse in Italy until after WWII . The bidet is possibly associated with the chamber pot and the bourdaloue, the latter being a small chamber pot like object specifically for the use of ladies on long trips . </P> <P> Historical antecedents and early functions of the bidet are believed to include devices used for contraception . Bidets are considered ineffective by today's standards of contraception, and their use for this function was quickly abandoned and forgotten with the advent of modern contraceptives such as the pill . </P> <P> By 1900, due to plumbing improvements, the bidet (and chamber pot) moved from the bedroom to the bathroom . This was common in French palaces . </P> <P> In the United States in 1928 John Harvey Kellogg applied for a patent on an "anal douche". In his application, he uses the term to describe a system comparable to what today might be called a bidet nozzle which can be attached to a toilet to perform anal cleansing with water . </P>

Where does the water from a bidet come from