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Bedpan collection is sold to Ripley Museum

Luke Deal/BBC An elderly woman with short grey hair sits behind a kitchen table which has about 10 bedpans resting on it in all different shapes and sizes. The woman is wearing a white blouse and has glasses. She is smiling at the camera.Luke Deal/BBC
Mary Jacobs still has 12 bedpans left she had originally intended to keep - but changed her mind

A woman is washing her hands of a 177-strong collection of bedpans she has amassed over 40 years.

Mary Jacobs, 77, from Newmarket in Suffolk, started her collection in 1984 when she bought her first bedpan for 50p in a jumble sale.

She set herself the task of selling them earlier this year - and previously sold two that will be shown as part of a private exhibition at Peterborough Cathedral in the spring.

Mrs Jacobs has now sold 163 of them to a museum in America - and 12 bedpans that she had originally intended to keep will also go on sale.

"They've all gone to America," she told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"I have still got 12 left which were very specials ones, ones that were very rare to see.

"But I've now decided that my 12 bedpans have got to go along with my 58 urine bottles."

Luke Deal/BBC A closer view of the bedpans sitting on a kitchen table. They are all white and in different shapes and sizes. Some have writing and company logos printed upon them. Luke Deal/BBC
The most expensive bedpan Mrs Jacobs bought over the years was £18

The bedpans have gone to a Ripley Museum - a type of history and artefacts museum that has numerous sites - and were collected on Monday.

The two that were previously sold earlier this year went to Julie Stevenson, 53, a councillor in Peterborough.

She collects Shelley ware pieces, from the renowned Staffordshire pottery company that closed in 1966.

She found Mrs Jacobs had two Shelley bedpans in her collection.

In March, Mrs Stevenson's Shelley collection - with the bedpans - will go on show in a private exhibition at Peterborough Cathedral.

Julie Stevenson Julie Stevenson with long blonde hair and glasses stands next to Mrs Jacobs. Mrs Stevenson is wearing a yellow top with a dark green cardigan. Mrs Jacobs is wearing a white polo top with some red details on it. Julie Stevenson
Julie Stevenson met with Mrs Jacobs to buy two of her bedpans that were made by Shelley

Of the 12 bedpans left, Mrs Jacobs said there were some unique elements to them.

"Of the ones I kept, one has got a name in it with the Lord Derby War Hospital from Warrington," she explained.

"Another one, which is a round one - which is rare - has got Nurse Richards written on it."

Asked if she would carry on collecting various items, Mrs Jacobs said she was now finished.

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