American Toby Jug Museum 

Smuggler character jug produced by Koessinger of Schierling, Germany, in a circa 1986 limited edition for the Mengen-Rulfingen hiking club, or Wanderfreunde, as an award to members of the club. In days of old, the smuggler was surrounded by an air of romance and mystery. He was an adventurer taking huge risks to import goods by cover of night in order to evade payment of duties and official restrictions. Smuggling has been flourishing since the time of the Greek city-states. During the eighteenth century even some parsons, magistrates and country gentlemen dabbled in smuggling or accepted smuggled goods. Smuggling was particularly rife in Britain during the Napoleonic wars when tobacco and spirits were the main commodities smuggled into the country. There were also grim tales of gangs of smugglers who inspired fear and dread among dwellers near the coasts. This fellow looks like he could be one of those. Today, however, the aura of a smuggler is much more nefarious, and it is narcotics which cause one of the greatest problems in international smuggling. This jug is based on Magrou and Capodimonte character jugs in larger sizes.