Handbill, advertising 'Toby, the Sapient Pig' at the Royal Promenade Rooms, Spring Gardens, dated in ink, 'Saturday March 1 1817. Toby, billed as 'The greatest Curiosity of the present Day', will 'SPELL AND READ; CAST ACCOUNTS; PLAY AT CARDS; Tell any Person what o'Clock it is to a Minute, BY THEIR OWN WATCH; ALSO TELL THE AGE OF ANY ONE IN COMPANY; and what is more Astonishing he will Discover a Person's Thoughts, A Thing never heard of before, particularly of so singular an animal, as that of the SWINE RACE.'

Performing animals were very popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was possible to watch ‘learned’ horses, dogs and cats, but the animals that really captured the public imagination were pigs. Being intelligent creatures, they could be taught a variety of skills. In 1783 Dublin audiences were introduced to ‘The Learned Pig’, who could spell out words and do arithmetic by picking out letters and numbers written on cards. According to his publicity, he could also tell the time, distinguish colours and read minds. The pig was taken on tour and first visited London in 1785, where he acquired celebrity status. Writers speculated on the extent of his understanding and crowds flocked to see him.

The success of The Learned Pig prompted other animal trainers to try their luck with their own porcine geniuses. The most significant of these was Toby the Sapient Pig, who first appeared in London in 1817 at the Royal Promenade Rooms, which were situated in Spring Gardens, a street near what is now Trafalgar Square. Toby, who wore a lace collar, was just as popular as his predecessor. This handbill lists his many talents and is illustrated with his image between Masonic symbols. These were not intended to imply that Toby was a member of the Freemasons. The image of builders' tools beneath a sun and moon often appears as a printer’s decoration. The symbols themselves carry a range of meanings, the sun and moon encouraging wise leadership, the square and compasses implying honesty, integrity and wisdom, and this may be the reason for their inclusion here.

Toby was far more than a performer. He was also the author of an autobiography, The Life and Adventures of Toby the Sapient Pig: With His Opinions of Men and Manners, which was sold for a shilling at his shows. It included an image of the author in a book-filled sty, with a quill pen tucked behind his ear. Though he may have had a little help from his trainer, Nicholas Hoare, the short account is, apparently, all Toby’s own work, and is a classic show business tale of rags to riches. Despite his humble origins, our hero develops an early interest in learning, probably caused by his pregnant mother eating some books from a gentleman’s library. He is sold to a man who recognises his talents and begins his training for stardom, acquiring the name Toby as a result of a pun - his master comments that their success will be a case of ‘To be or not to be’. After much hard work, Toby is ready for his London debut - ‘the most arduous task I should ever have to accomplish’ - which, naturally, is a triumph: ‘As I proceeded through the various scenes I had to depict, I received every testimony of approbation I could wish; and the close of my scenic effort was crowned with universal applause.’

Pig training would have been a long process, requiring a great deal of patience. An American stage magician called William Frederick Pinchbeck, who toured with his own Pig of Knowledge, gave away some secrets in a book, The Expositor; or Many Mysteries Unravelled, published in Boston in 1805. The training begins when the pig is seven or eight weeks old. Once domesticated, by being given ‘free access to the inferior part of your house’, the pig can be taught to stand still and hold cards, and should be rewarded for his efforts with a piece of white bread or apple. Then he must learn to select the appropriate cards by responding to signals from the trainer, described by Pinchbeck as ‘snuffling’ or ‘breathing through your nose’. These would not be noticed by spectators, whose attention would be on the animal. Pinchbeck emphasises that the pig should be treated kindly and not overworked: ‘Much is to be done by raising or falling the tone of the voice.’