I know some find it silly, but I have long wanted my own chamber pot for events. I’m just not a fan of three trips a night in the cold rain to the outhouse. So, now that I finally have just the right chamber pot, it is time for a commode.
While I’ve had fairly simple, if not quite well thought out, ideas in my head, it seems some commodes were quite complex. Take a look at this advertisement printed in 1831, in both the Edinburgh Review and the Quarterly Review out of London. I am picturing something more like illustrations 3 and 4.
Thomas Webster discussed a version figures 1 and 2 in his Domestic Encyclopedia: “Portable water-closets are useful when fixed ones cannot be had, and in case of sickness; as they may be placed in a dressing-room, or even a bedroom. If ill constructed, they are a nuisance; but we can recommend the following, patented by wiss, near Charing Cross, London. Fig. 454, a, a, [reprint of figure 2 labeled a to f] is a cistern for water, surrounding the three sides of a box which holds the pan, b; the cistern is filled by lifting up a small lid, c, and pulling the handle of an engine, by which the water is forced into the pan through the washer. This water, by its weight, opens the hinged valve at the bottom of the pan, e, placed beneath. This pail has a cover with a projection that dips into a groove containing a little water, that effectually prevents any effluvia from coming out. The pail can be removed to empty it. This apparatus may be made in a variety of forms, as a seat, an arm-chair, a commode, settee, &c. The same movable box, with the cistern and pan, may be used without a pail, and be more complete, where there is a convenience of connecting it with a pipe to go into a drain or cesspool. In this case there is a curved tube to be joined to the pipe, which, being always full of water up to the dotted line, stops any smell from ascending. [additional small illustration]
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
Remember I’m a confederate. I really wanted the one from New Orleans with the picture of Beast Butler in the bowl. My hubby won’t let me get one!
Anna, I have one very similar to #4! Lucky purchase at an antique store and I don’t leave home without it. It is a simple one that did not have a top but DH made a cover for me. I use the camping type disposable bags in the chamber pot. They are environmentally friendly and work well.