toby jug

toby jug (tō'bē) [key], small pottery pitcher or mug modeled in the form of a jolly, stout man wearing a cocked hat, a corner of which serves as pourer. The jug is also called fillpot, both names taken from Toby Fillpot, inebriate character in the 18th-century song Little Brown Jug. Popular in England and America of that day, the toby jug has become a collector's piece.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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