Chinese export porcelain guglets and wash basins were ubiquitous in elite colonial residences, and George Washington's estate inventory lists them in nearly every bedchamber. The guglet, a long necked vessel for holding water, received its name from the "gug-gug-gug" sound it made when water was poured into a basin. Such equipment allowed the Washingtons and their contemporaries to maintain the cleanliness of face and hands that was indicative of gentility. This guglet and basin descended in the family of Martha Washington’s granddaughter, Martha Custis Peter, and according to the Peter family tradition, they once stood in Mrs. Washington's bedroom.