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Shantique Gallery: A Brief History of Character Pitchers
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A Sampling of Character Pitchers
(and a few other "characters"!) from the Shantique Gallery Shop (Click on the photos or text for more details)
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Jacqueline. She escaped the donjon in the guise of a man and made her way to Gouda. This marked the beginning of a
valiant three year effort by Jacqueline to regain control of her lands. Jacqueline was no demure hot-house flower: as comfortable
in full armor as she was in silk robes, she led her own troops into battle, and, against the overwhelming might of Burgundy,
fought courageously on the battlefield to preserve the lands which were her heritage. (If you'd like to learn more about
the colorful heroine, Jacqueline, there's a brief biography of her 
English word "tope" or "to tope" which meant to drink habitually to excess; it may have come about from
the character Toby Belch in Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night; or it may have come from the character Toby Shandy in Laurence
Sterne's book, Tristam Shandy which was just published in 1760. Lastly, it may have derived from a legendary Yorkshire
drunkard known as Toby Fillpot (or Philpot) whose real name was Harry Ewles. It probably came about through a combination
of influences: In the first place, Sterne's book was quite popular and the character "Toby" was a favorite,
and it was only a short year later that a popular print came out in England illustrating the famous Toby tippler, captioned
with "Old Toby Philpot, as thirsty a soul as e'er drank a bottle or fathomed a bowl,". Of one thing there's
no question-Toby, whoever he may (or may not) have been, definitely liked his drink and spent quite a bit of time in his cups!
problems of his own due to his propensity for drunkenness. After working for Ralph Wood, Voyez went to work for Josiah Wedgwood
in 1768 with a 3-year contract. Wedgwood was thrilled to have Voyez on his team and wrote enthusiastically about his new hire.
No doubt Wedgwood soon came to rue the day he put the Frenchman on his payroll. Voyez worked for Wedgwood for about a year
when he showed up for work belligerent and drunk. Wedgwood had Voyez flogged and imprisoned at Stafford Gaol for three months.
Wedgwood had just begun to produce the jasperware for which he would become rightly famous, and during Voyez' imprisonment,
he became extraordinarily worried that Voyez would go to work for a competitor when he was released, ending Wedgwood's
virtual monopoly on jasperware. He even proposed paying Voyez the full three years of wages to keep Voyez from going to the
competition. Wedgwood's fears were well-founded: Voyez worked for a time for Palmer of Hanley, but then began his own
workshop, producing the same sort of wares as Wedgwood, and marking them "Wedgwood & Bentley" or "Wadgwojd",
rendered in such as way as to be easily mistaken for "Wedgwood". So the father of the famous Toby jug was a bit
of a ne'er-do-well himself...I don't know if he was nearly so charming as his creation when filled with a pint of
ale!![Hogarth's "Gin Lane" Print](sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/LibraryRefFotos/HogarthGinLane.jpg "Hogarth's "Gin Lane" Print")
A tax imposed on spirits in 1751, which affected gin but not beer, ale, or wine, helped to sway the populace away from gin
and into the welcoming arms of brewers throughout the continent and England. Brewers thrived and many built public-houses
which functioned more as a community center than a saloon. Mail and messages could be left there for patrons, newspapers were
provided to be enjoyed with a pint. Companies built public-houses for their employees where the workers could pick up their
pay...they could even opt to be paid in beer. Beer dispensers were installed in private homes and the servants consumption
of the brew was counted against their wages. A quick stop at the public-house after work to pick up a large jug of beer to
bring back home to accompany the family dinner was a common occurrence. 
would keep their own personal jug at the "pub", where they were usually stored on a shelf over the bar. Large jugs
were needed for toting the family's ration of beer from the pub to the home, and of course children clamored for jugs
like Mom and Dad's, so small jugs were a necessity as well. With such a profusion of jugs about, it was a good idea to
have a distinctive jug that couldn't be mistaken for someone else's. Potters throughout Europe and England were only
too happy to oblige: Pots Jacqueline (Jacquot) and Tobies in a myriad of styles, sizes, and colors proliferated. 
shoulders, had become just as popular as the full-body jug. The famous "grotesques" of Sarreguemines, and the
magnificent bust-like portrait jugs of Frie-Onnaing are prime examples. These were made for quite a number of years,
and enthusiastically copied by hundreds of smaller potters all over the world. The popularity of the form began to wane after
World War I, until they were rediscovered more recently by collectors. They are now being copied just as enthusiastically
as they were a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, unlike most of the earlier copies which, by and large, were not created in
an effort to deceive, most of the modern copies being sold today are made to do just that-to fool the collector into believing
it to be the genuine article. So whether your interest runs to the continental Character jugs from the likes of Sarreguemines
and Frie-Onnaing, or to the storied Toby of England, it behooves the collector to arm oneself with as much knowledge as possible.
