Silas Sly character jug produced by Longton New Art Pottery of Longton, England, circa 1955 using its Kelsboro Ware tradename. Silas "Sly" Wegg is a character in Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend". A working-class man with a wooden leg, he makes his living selling ballads on the street corner next to the house that Mr. and Mrs. Boffin later purchase, for which he feels a deluded sense of ownership. The illiterate Mr. Boffin, believing him "a literary man," hires him to read aloud to him in the evenings, a position which Wegg considers an opportunity at social advancement. Mr Boffin later entrusts him with the care of "Boffin's Bower," or the old Harmon house. Wegg then begins to conspire with Mr. Venus to search the dust mounds surrounding the Bower for hidden wealth. A cane forms the handle of the jug.
Maker:
Longton New Art Pottery
England
circa 1955
Model #:
character jug
Size:
medium
Height:
3 1/4"