The origins and history of the vanvera are shrouded in mystery; some sources claim it can be traced back to ancient Egypt, while others that it was inspired by Roman creativity, but there is no real evidence that this gas-muffling invention has its roots in ancient history. What everyone seems to agree on is that the vanvera was used by the aristocracy of that era, primarily women who could easily conceal it under their large, elaborate dresses.

The vanvera on display at the Sex Machines Museum in Prague consists of a leather pouch that connects to the wearer’s behind, muffling farts and containing the foul-smelling gases during social events. It can then be emptied in private by squeezing the pouch.

Venezia Today writes that the vanvera was used in the Italian city during the 17th century, and that it came in several varieties. There was the small tube worn by women under their skirts, and a larger, more complex apparatus that consisted of a series of pipes that carried the flatulence of aristocrats from under the covers of their beds, through the window, outside.

Liekki Pieru writes about a different type of vanvera, a small metal box that could be fitted to the wearer’s underwear. It was filled with dried aromatic herbs – lavender, rosemary, sage – and when gas passed through it, it became “scented like a breeze from the fields of Provence”. This kind of vanvera didn’t muffle the sound of one’s fart, so it wasn’t as popular as the leather sack design.

The vanvera is just one of the many obscure inventions that most people have forgotten about, but that really speaks volumes about the mad creativity of our species.