Not on display

John Liston

Toby Jug
ca.1825 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is John Liston (1776-1846), one of the leading comic actors of his day, as the busybody Paul Pry with his trademark umbrella. Several different figurines of Liston as Pry were produced, based on contemporary engravings, after his huge success in John Poole's play Paul Pry which opened at London's Haymarket Theatre on 13 September 1825. The play was enormously popular throughout the 19th century. Paul Pry's catch-phrases 'I hope I don't intrude', 'Just dropped in' and 'It's nothing to me' were quoted everywhere, and the name Paul Pry became a well-known term for a busybody.

Liston achieved his greatest successes in farce, particularly as Paul Pry, but was well known for several other roles which were also seen in drawings, painting, engravings and figurines. An expert dancer, he became the highest-paid comedian on the stage, earning between sixty and a hundred pounds a week at the Olympic Theatre, a huge salary for his day. He retired in 1837 after a career that spanned over thirty years.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleJohn Liston (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Glazed earthenware
Brief description
Toby jug of John Liston (1776-1846) in the title role of John Poole's play Paul Pry, Haymarket Theatre, 1825. Glazed earthenware
Physical description
Toby jug in the form of the head of John Liston as Paul Pry, wearing a tan-coloured top hat with the words PAUL PRY inscibed in black around the white and cream hat band, a green jacket and a cream bow tie. His hair is coloured white and light brown, and he has a ruddy complexion with pink cheeks.
Dimensions
  • Height: 9.4cm
  • Width: 5.5cm
  • Depth: 10.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
'PAUL PRY' (Inscribed around the hat band.)
Credit line
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996
Subject depicted
Literary referencePaul Pry
Summary
This is John Liston (1776-1846), one of the leading comic actors of his day, as the busybody Paul Pry with his trademark umbrella. Several different figurines of Liston as Pry were produced, based on contemporary engravings, after his huge success in John Poole's play Paul Pry which opened at London's Haymarket Theatre on 13 September 1825. The play was enormously popular throughout the 19th century. Paul Pry's catch-phrases 'I hope I don't intrude', 'Just dropped in' and 'It's nothing to me' were quoted everywhere, and the name Paul Pry became a well-known term for a busybody.

Liston achieved his greatest successes in farce, particularly as Paul Pry, but was well known for several other roles which were also seen in drawings, painting, engravings and figurines. An expert dancer, he became the highest-paid comedian on the stage, earning between sixty and a hundred pounds a week at the Olympic Theatre, a huge salary for his day. He retired in 1837 after a career that spanned over thirty years.

Bibliographic reference
The Georgian Playhouse. Actors, Artists, Audiences and Architecture 1730-1830. Catalogue of an Arts Council exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, 21 August to 12 October 1975.
Collection
Accession number
S.1051-1996

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Record createdMay 16, 2006
Record URL
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