American Toby Jug Museum 

Water Sprite majolica toby jug produced by Sarreguemines of Lorraine, France, circa 1905. A water sprite is a general term for an elemental spirit associated with water. They are able to breathe in water or air and sometimes can fly. They exist in the mythology of various groups. Ancient Greeks knew water sprites in several types such as naiads, which were divine entities that tended to be fixed in one place. Slavic mythology knows them as vilas. Water sprites differ from corporeal beings, such as selkies, mermaids, and sirens, as they are not purely physical and are more akin to local deities than animals. This jug is an early Sarreguemines figural pitcher and extremely rare.