Lot Essay
Jugs of this type are among the rarest and most desirable. Classed at one time as 'Astbury Type' this attribution has long been discredited and their origin and date still remain to be fixed.
They remain however an individual and characteristic group, notable for the free and lively modelling, indicative of a single potter or workshop. Sometimes known as 'Midshipmites' or 'Midshipmates' these jugs exist as Drummers and Tailors as well as Topers but are best known in their guise of Fiddlers (see following lot).
For a discussion of this type of Toby, see Jonathan Horne A Collection of Early English Pottery, Part IV (1984), no. 89. See also Captain R. K. Price, p. cit., pls. XLVII and XVLVIII nos. 67, 70 and 71.
They remain however an individual and characteristic group, notable for the free and lively modelling, indicative of a single potter or workshop. Sometimes known as 'Midshipmites' or 'Midshipmates' these jugs exist as Drummers and Tailors as well as Topers but are best known in their guise of Fiddlers (see following lot).
For a discussion of this type of Toby, see Jonathan Horne A Collection of Early English Pottery, Part IV (1984), no. 89. See also Captain R. K. Price, p. cit., pls. XLVII and XVLVIII nos. 67, 70 and 71.