Royal Doulton Toby Jug or Character Mug for Christmas

Are you thinking about buying yourself or someone you know a toby Jug or Character Mug for Christmas? If so how do you pick the right one?

Doulton had made toby jugs since 1815 but in the 1920′s Harry Simeon added colour.  How Toby jugs acquired its name is not known for sure, but possibly from Sir Toby Belch a character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Or maybe it was after a song popular in 1761, around the time the jug was first produced in a traditional, brown salt glaze version. The song ‘Brown Jug’ featured ‘Toby Fillpot’.

The first Toby Jug was made in the early 18th century. It was a jovial, seated, male figure, dressed in clothes of the time, having a long coat with pockets, waistcoat, cravat, knee breeches and buckled shoes. He had a mug in his hand and a tricorn hat which made a pouring spout. Royal Doulton later made a similar Toby Jug known as Toby XX, Double XX, or Man on a Barrel.

Toby Jugs have been around since the early 18th century. Doulton is credited with reviving them in 1815 but in the 1920′s Harry Simeon added colour. Charles Noke, a Doulton artist considered a more colourful and stylish jug based on the head and shoulders of a character rather than the full figure. Then in 1934 he was satisfied with the standards of design and production and the first character jug was launched.

The first Character Jug was John Barleycorn and it was such a success that Old Charley, the Night Watchman, Sairey Gamp, Parson Brown and Dick Turpin were added.  Since that time there has been many, many others added.

The value of Toby Jugs is determined by, to put it simply, the people seeking to purchase it. Some collectors are looking for a rare jug such as the first clown range of jugs produced in the 1930s, it had red hair and multi-coloured handles, but due to World War II restrictions on supply of materials, the hair during the war years was changed to brown. Between 1951 and 1955 hair colour had changed to white. Red or brown haired clowns are two to three times more valuable than the white ones, but the most valuable is the black haired clown, commissioned by a family whose grandfather was a black haired clown. This was sold at auction a few years ago.

An example of a Royal Doulton Pitcher is the Roya Doulton Dickens Oliver Twist Pitcher, other examples of Royal Doulton pieces are The Trapper, Farmer John, Old Charley, Granny, Sairey Gamp, and Toby XX.

Now to get to the answer of which to buy, I am afraid I do not have the answer because to each person a different one may be their choice. The wonderful thing is that there are so many great Royal Doulton pieces made to choose from. So good luck in picking the ones you like!