Countless mugs, punch bowls and flasks bear witness to the importance of drinking in English social life, but none so graphically as the Toby jug, which made its debut about 1770. The origin of the name is uncertain. It may have been taken from Toby Fillpot, the subject of a song, ‘The Brown Jug’, published in the Rev. Francis Fawkes’ Original Poems and Translations in 1761 and reprinted many times. It begins:

The modelling and colouring of Tobys and their accessories, such as barrels, pipes and mugs, differs from jug to jug. This classic example is decorated underglaze with the palette of metallic oxides described as ‘Pratt’ colours, which also included green, brown and black. Only two jugs marked ‘PRATT’ have been recorded and this palette was used on creamware and pearlware by many other potters in Staffordshire and elsewhere between the 1780s and 1830s. Toby jugs were also decorated with coloured glazes and with overglaze enamels.