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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 1913 



A swinging-shelf arranged to display a small collection of Tobies, with pewter mugs below 



The Picturesque Toby 



My Mary H. Northend 

 Photographs by the Author 



F all antiques that form collections, nothing 

 to my mind is more interesting than the 

 squat, fat little Toby, with its bright color- 

 ing and ever recurring mug. This quaint 

 little figure is always fascinating, for in 

 imagination it transports one inside the old 

 ale houses or chop houses where, gathered around the table, 

 is seen a group of men, each one drinking from one of these 

 queer little mugs. Those of to-day are made generally in 

 Germany, but their ancestors, the original Tobies, came 

 from England, although little regarding them is to be found 

 in the published authorities of British ceramic wares. 



Fortunately, researches in old registers enable one to get 

 a few exact dates concerning them and their origin. Most 

 of them are old Staffordshire and are not marked by any 

 maker's name, but they have such distinctive modeling and 

 coloring, that they may be easily distinguished from the 

 modern reproductions, many of which are supplied from 

 Holland and France. 



Toby jugs, in the latter part of the eighteenth century 

 and the early part of the nineteenth, were adapted to 

 cartoons and convivial qualities of hero worship. They 

 were fitted with likenesses of great men, giving us Welling- 

 ton, Drake, General Howe, and Lord Nelson hollowed into 

 ale mugs. Among them, too, Napoleon was found, made in 

 France. The reason it is thought to have been made in 

 that country is from the fact that the likeness of The Little 

 Corporal is not a caricature. English potters delighted to 

 depict Bonaparte, but they seldom gave him the attractive 

 countenance of this jug. They made him tall and thin, or 

 short and abnormally fat, and dressed him in queer clothes, 

 labelling him, "Bony." This jug, owned by Mr. Seth F. 

 Low, of Salem, Massachusetts, is in very pleasant guise, 

 suave of countenance, and very well dressed. There is a 

 smoothness of texture about the work that marks it as 

 distinct from the English Tobies, which unfortunately 

 frequently lack these desirable qualities. 



The name "Toby," so the legend runs, was derived from 

 "Uncle Toby," a character in "Tristram Shandy." 

 Whether this is true or not, this little drinking mug was in 

 favor at the time of the coming out of Sterne's novel. These 

 were not the first of the kind, for before the advent of the 

 real Toby, a stoneware jug was made by Flemish potters 

 in the early part of the seventeenth century, and, no doubt, 

 was put to the same use that the Toby eventually served. 



These jugs were called "Greybeards," or "Bllarmines." 

 These names were given in derision of an unpopular 

 Cardinal of the times, the bearded face being a caricature. 

 Every one that was made, boasted a generous rotundity of 

 outline with two fat arms and hands that made a futile 

 attempt to clasp each other across the well-filled-out waist- 

 coat, while directly under a plain band that finished the top 

 was a face with flowing beard. Some specimens of these 

 jugs are shown in the South Kensington Museum, but it i& 

 doubtful if any are to be found in America. 



As early as 1750, and even before, we find these mugs, 

 showing rummy, old red-nosed faces, with always their 

 drinking mug in hand. They were supposed to have been 

 invented by one Toby Philpott of jovial nature, and the 

 original jug was supposed to be his portrait. The first 

 Tobies were in reality scarcely more than hollow figures, to 

 which a handle had been attached, but as time went on they 

 grew more and more like mugs and while at first the cap 

 or hat lifted off, forming a cover, the succeeding style had 

 the hat incorporated into the mug, forming the lip. They 

 were gayly dressed in vivid colors, ranging from twelve to 

 fourteen inches in height. 



England has the honor of making the Toby an institu- 

 tion. They are shown in a considerable variety of modeling 

 and decoration. The first ones were brightly colored, 

 formed like a man, seated, and holding his pipe or ale mug 

 in his hand. They have from the commencement shown 

 different designs, some of them being full length as the 

 Jolly Good Fellow. These drinking mugs were made in 

 many factories, those at Bennington, Vermont, being the 

 only ones that bear a distinctive mark and in consequence are 

 more highly prized by connoisseurs. A unique specimen that 

 was made in this factory is the only one that shows no mug 

 in the hand, the arms being arranged closely to the body and 

 giving the appearance of having no arms at all. 



A genuine Toby of the late eighteenth century costs 

 anywhere from $50.00 to $75.00, while much higher prices 

 are commanded by some of the rarer kinds. They are 

 shown in all moods, some being jovial in appearance, others 

 placid, and still more are leering. In fact, every kind of a 

 Toby is represented, except a dry one. In addition to 

 depicting the figures of human beings, there are some 

 Tobies, although rare, that represent animals, while not a 

 few are in the form of tea pots. These latter are generally 

 finished in blue with a band of green and a bit of copper 



