American Toby Jug Museum 

Romeo & Juliet thimbles produced by Francesca China of Longton, England, circa 1985. "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life." These lines from the prologue of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" allude to the 1596 romantic tragedy of two of the world's best-known lovers. The protagonist, Romeo, is a Montague, a family at bitter odds with the Capulets. However, in disguise at a feast given by Lord Capulet, the young hero falls in love with the host's daughter, Juliet, and she with him. They are secretly wed by Friar Lawrence the following day. A series of events leads to Romeo's banishment from his home in Verona, while Juliet's father attempts to marry her to Count Paris. To escape this fate, the Friar gives the heroine a potion which will render her lifeless for forty hours in order that Romeo can rescue her. This plan tragically backfires; Romeo is misinformed and, believing his beloved dead, he gives her one final kiss, takes poison and dies. The tragedy is completed when Juliet awakes; finding her beloved dead beside her, she takes her own life.