Toby Jug

This article is about the pottery jug in the form of a seated person. For other uses, see Toby Jug (disambiguation).
Toby Jug, made by Ralph Wood (the Younger), Burslem, c. 1782–1795; lead-glazed earthenware

A Toby Jug, also sometimes known as a Fillpot (or Philpot), is a pottery jug in the form of a seated person; whereas a character jug features the head of a recognizable person. Typically the seated figure is a heavy-set, jovial man holding a mug of beer in one hand and a pipe of tobacco in the other and wearing 18th-century attire: a long coat and a tricorn hat. The tricorn hat forms a pouring spout, often with a removable lid, and a handle is attached at the rear. Jugs depicting just the head and shoulders of a figure are also referred to as Toby jugs, although these should strictly be called "character jugs"[1] or face jugs, the wider historical term.

The original Toby Jug, with a brown salt glaze, was developed and popularised by Staffordshire potters in the 1760s.[2] It is thought to be a development of similar Delft jugs that were produced in the Netherlands.[3] Similar designs were produced by other potteries, first in Staffordshire, then around England, and eventually in other countries, both in Europe and in British colonies.

A drinking vessel shaped like an older white man wearing a red coat
Toby jug found in a chief’s tomb in the Belgian Congo, dating from early 1800s, now in the Royal Museum for Central Africa

The Jug in the form of a Head, Self-portrait (1899) by Paul Gauguin is an unusual example from a painter. They were made in the 1760s in the Netherlands.

  1. ^ "History of Toby Jugs".
  2. ^ "American Toby Jug Museum - Toby & Character Jugs - History". Archived from the original on 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  3. ^ The Art of the Old English Potter, By Louis Marc Emmanuel Solon, Forgotten Books, September, 2015, p. 245, ISBN 978-1331549598