American Toby Jug Museum 

Mephistopheles character jug modeled by Charles J. Noke and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, between 1937-1948. The medieval legend of how the alchemist, Dr. Faustus, "sells his soul" to the Devil has been adapted throughout the centuries by many poets, playwrights and musicians. Yet it is perhaps Wolfgang von Goethe who has left the annals of literature with the most memorable image of Mephistopheles as a sorcerer, descendent from chaos and spirit of negation. A fully characterized human devil, Mephistopheles is portrayed as an intellectual, philosopher and wit. At times almost compassionate, this master of irony skillfully switches moods from the dangerously meek and charming to the jeering, mocking seducer of men's souls. An equivocal quote is featured on the base of some of these bizarre jugs, loosely translated from Francois Rabelais's The Quarter Delivers: "When the devil was sick, the devil a saint would be. When the devil got well, the devil a saint was he." The most sought-after jugs are those featuring this quote.