Fergus Gambon
Director
Lot 81*
An important Staffordshire 'Fiddler' Toby Jug, dated 1789
23 June 2021, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £12,750 inc. premium
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An important Staffordshire 'Fiddler' Toby Jug, dated 1789
Of traditional form, seated with a large foaming jug resting on the ground to his right and a small foaming cup held between his knees, his violin and bow well-modelled, the violin held beneath his bearded chin, wearing a blue and brown mottled coat with brown shoes and breeches, the brown base inscribed 'Good Ale is Made for the Use of Men so fill Ould Tobe Once Again 1789', 25.7cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
With Alistair Sampson Antiques
James and Timmey Challenger Collection, Chicago
Another jug inscribed 'Joseph Marttain Burslem' in a similar manner around the base also from the James and Timmey Challenger Collection was sold by Bonhams on 15 December 2020, lot 63. The violin and bow are very carefully executed, with the strings individually delineated. This important jug is not recorded in the list of inscriptions provided by Vic Schuler, Collecting British Toby Jugs (Third Edition, 1999), p.133.
