This character mug or Toby mug is part of the Character Ware range manufactured by Lancaster & Sandland of Dresden Works, who manufactured Sandland Ware pottery in Hanley, Staffordshire, from 1944 until the 1970s. Hanley is one of the six Staffordshire towns that form the area known as The Potteries and the Dresden Works were situated on the corner of Clough Street and Mount Pleasant. Other mugs in this range included the Dickens characters Mr Pickwick, Mr Micawber and Sairey Gamp, and the historical characters John Peel, Francis Drake and Robin Hood.

Although this features the familiar face of England's most famous playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616), we can never be certain that this is a good likeness. No portrait of Shakespeare was ever produced during his lifetime and all the subsequent images were based on an engraving by the Flemish artist Martin Droeshout (1601-1651) printed on the title page of the First Folio of Shakespeare's published works. Droeshout was only fifteen when Shakespeare died. Since there is no evidence to show that he met him, his image was probably based on verbal descriptions by Shakespeare's friends.