Miniature Toby jug in the form of the Duchess of Plaza-Toro from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers. Rockingham Pottery, 1985, from original moulds made by Shorter & Sons, 1940, first issued in 1949

Toby jug in the shape of The Duchess of Plaza-Toro from Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Gondoliers, showing the Duchess standing, her head tilted upwards looking to her right, holding a fan with green leaves and magenta sticks in her left hand which she holds across her waist. She has a powdered grey wig, a black mantilla and a yellow dress with a central panel bordered by an ermine trim. She has a blue and white ceremonial sash across her chest and wears a pearl rope necklace. The black mantilla drapes down at the back to join the yellow dress, acting as a handle. The mantilla is open at the top to act as the jug.

Given by Rockingham Pottery

All the fourteen glazed earthenware Toby jugs in this gift represent popular characters in Gilbert and Sullivan operas as they appeared with the D'Oyly Carte Company in the 1940s.

This set was produced by Rockingham Pottery in 1985 from the original moulds used by Shorter in 1949 when they extended the concept of making character jugs to issuing a set of entirely original figurines based on actors in costume. They obtained permission from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to model fourteen character jugs from five of the G&S operas - The Mikado, The Gondoliers, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Yeomen of the Guard. This series was quite different in style from any Shorter character jugs manufactured previously since the characters were posed and caught in mid-gesture, each wearing an exact copy of their stage costume.

Clarice Cliff, as Art Director, was apparently originally responsible for the design of the Gilbert and Sullivan series which was modelled by Betty Silvester. Although designed in 1940 the Gilbert and Sullivan figures were not marketed until after the war when an extensive marketing campaign was masterminded by Colley Shorter in 1949. They featured prominently when he and Clarice Cliff-Shorter toured Canada and the United States on a publicity tour in the same year.

The Gilbert and Sullivan character jugs were made in two sizes, the large at10 inches high and the small at 5 inches. In addition to the figurines, small rectangular wall plaques, cigarette boxes and ash trays, bearing embossed figures from the operas, supplemented the range.

This set of figurines is one of a very few sets impressed 'Rockingham', which were issued in the mid 1980s by the person who owned the moulds for a short period.

Issued by Rockingham Pottery in 1985 using original moulds made by Shorter & Sons in 1940.

This is one of a set of fourteen miniature Toby jugs showing popular characters from comic operas by Gilbert & Sullivan. The jugs were originally designed by the Burslem pottery firm Shorter & Sons in 1940 when principals from the D'Oyly Carte Company were photographed in their costumes and in poses that they felt best represented their characters. This was modelled on Ella Halman, a performer with the D'Oyly Carte Company between 1937 and 1951, as the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers.

Two sizes of these jugs were made, as well as wall plaques, cigarette boxes and ash trays featuring the characters. As Art Director of Shorter's, Clarice Cliff was responsible for the design of the series although the figures were modelled by various artists: Betty Silvester modelled the Duchess. The outbreak of World War II meant that the range was not marketed until 1949 when an extensive advertising campaign in North America was masterminded by Colley Shorter. The set to which this jug belongs was the first of a very few produced in the mid-1980s by the owner of the original moulds who marked the jugs 'Rockingham'.

S.672-1985