Staffordshire Toby Jug

Staffordshire pottery makers didn't use "raw clay" for manufacture. The clay was always cleaned and processed in some way. Heck, even the Romans did that here. If you use impure raw clay you get lovely firing faults and the thing falls apart.

Additives were used early on: bone, for example, until we managed to steal the porcelain recipe and methodology from China.

Much of the growth of our canal network and later rail was down to the need to distribute fine white china clay mined in Cornwall, for example. Our transport system evolved on the needs of those wanting clay, coal and salt. All integral to manufacture and the foundation of our Industrial Revolution. It's worth reading up on the history of the Black Country and the Five Towns for that, it's fascinating. (I did an O level on all this, a long time back.)

It's possible to attribute to a region of the UK - or elsewhere - from clay colours but it is simply not true to say that modern pottery is "entirely different from using raw clay". Ask any studio potter.

A refresher course: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery

Glass Toby or character jugs are uncommon and tend to be later. Whitefriars was the main maker of them, I've several. Avon made copies way later.

As to this being a fake, it is what it is, not trying to be anything other than a late 19th C Toby. A thing can only be classified fake if it purports to be other than what it is. The high glaze and the vivid colours, as well as the style are typical of the late 19th. We'd developed much brighter underglazes by then. And of course, hundreds of thousands of Staffordshire made ceramics had not a single mark. Indeed, superb quality stuff like Lowestoft, rare as hen's teeth, wasn't marked. Unless you know the characteristics of a factory, in detail, it can be impossible to atrribute.

As to the value, in an antiques centre here, you might get £20, but that's probably optimistic, these are so out of fashion.

 

Oh, and saying that the person who made this would not be in a pottery isn't correct either. This is machine pressed into a mould with industrial quality glazes. Many factories prided themselves on how carefully any evidence of a mould was removed. You've only to look at Wedgwood or Doulton to see that.

 

Shattered my hopes!

 

Sorry! Even the Whitefriars ones aren't expensive, unless you find a colour.

 

Sorry, but yes clay would be cleaned and used but I do know more about tobys and character jugs as I have studied and collected tobys for over 40yrs. And yes there are fakes. There's always someone who thinks they know more than I do and I find it hard pressed to find that to be true unless I were to find a true collector which I never have. I'm planning a trip to the American Toby Museum this year and I will finally meet people who do know more than me! I don't claim to know everything but I know an aweful lot! I would not offer the advise I did if I didn't know what I was offering. This jug has many signs of being hand made. So if you have knowledge of toby or character jugs other than to offer that they don't sell for much, which you've stated before, then please add that information instead. Because what you've indicated implies that I have no knowledge at all. This is far from true. Tobys are my passion and I have spent a lifetime studying and searching every scrap of info I can find. I know very well what they can sell for. I see them all the time across the internet. And the older jugs get the bigger prices. Heck there are jugs that can go for over $1200! So I know what I'm talking about and if I didn't I would not offer advice. Maybe you should do the same when it comes to toby or character jugs! Its obvious you are not knowledgeable in this field.

 

What a reply!

a clear passion for these type of jugs, which I spotted before!

 

This conversation is at an end as far as I am concerned. I'm in the UK: I know a fair bit about our pottery and our market. But I don't propose to carry on a pointless discussion any further.

 

Andy,

I hope you are able now to place on eBay and get a good price for. Its certainly worth it! And a different jug than is usually seen at that. I think I'm going to go out on eBay UK and peruse around and see what's out there. I will often go looking on other countries eBay's just to see what jugs are floating around. Of course right now I don't know if it's the right time to sell with the virus going on. I haven't been out on eBay much to see if people are buying. You can always to a search on toby or characters jugs and look at completed items and see if they are selling.

Good luck,
Dana

 

Thank you, I sure will do.

would you be in a position to give me a break down of the item for a description which will appeal to most ?

I’d even ship abroad if you wanted to make a purchase hehehe

 

19 Century Character Toby Jug Handmade

Let that be your title. Yes I put toby in it because most people don't know the difference and search for toby and this way you will get in their search.

Then in the details:

19th Century Toby Character Jug which has many attributes as having been handmade. The ears, collar, handle, eyebrows and lips appear to have been added after the jug was molded. This is a very nice example that was possibly made between the 1860s-1880s. There is no mark on the jug. List the height and weight of the jug.

It's up to you whether you mention it being a fake.

For example:
Other attributes may indicate this jug may also be what was called a "fake" of that time.

This is where I'd list the weight of the jug. And you can use my words as to what a fake is and that it's still desirable and of considerable in age and a wonderful examples of the history of where toby/character jug have come from.

It's all on how you word this. True collectors may not be interested but then again, I was thrilled. Mine is exceptional in the clay itself which looks like tiger's eye and then there's the coffee grounds in it as well. At least that's what I think it is. It's about 12" tall and weighs probably over 2 lbs. It's quite heavy and its shouldn't be. The opening shows how thick it's visible sides are which is at least 1/4" but the bottom seems the heaviest. But it was made with a mold and when they first used molds they really didn't know what to do with the excess that squeezed outside the mold. So they made it rounded and part of the jug and that's what fascinates me the most. It really dates this jug to the 1760s and I find that truly incredible fake or no fake!

Use your pics but put them right side up so people can see the jug clearly.

Hope this help! And sorry I only collect tobys! Lol!