American Toby Jug Museum 

John Bull character jug produced by Sterling Pottery of Fenton, England, circa 1950 being purchased by Ridgway in 1950. John Bull is the national symbol of England. He was popularized as a patriotic figure in 1712 by a Scottish writer who published pamphlets advocating the end of the war of the Spanish Succession. These were later republished as the History of John Bull portraying the man as an honest, jolly, plain dealing, hot-tempered farmer. By the 1800s however, Punch cartoonist Sir John Tenniel had transformed him into a dignified gentleman. A walking stick forms the handle of the jug. This is the largest of two known sizes.