Standard household item in mid-20th century China - enamel or porcelain bowl kept by the bed or in the corner. Largely vanished after the 1990s anti-spitting hygiene campaigns, though the word survives in literature and old films. In 2020 a New York gallery embarrassingly priced an enamel
痰盂 as a "fruit bowl" for $675, which became viral mockery in Chinese social media.
