A Toby Jug is a ceramic jug that is shaped like a seated figure, historical or fictional. They are also known as Fillpot or Philpot. Original Toby Jug had brown salt glaze and the seated man had a mug of beer in one hand and a pipe of tobacco in the other. He was well-built man wearing a long coat and a tricom hat and had a jovial air to him. The tricom hats formed the pouring spout and often had a removable lid with handle attached at the rear. In the 1760s, Staffordshire potters popularized these jugs. Then, it was taken up by others potters around England and thereafter, in other countries too.
Usually, Toby Jug is used to refer a seated man, but jugs that have simply a head of the character or upper body is also referred thus. Sometimes, the jugs that depict head or upper body are also known as “Character Jugs.”
There are different theories for the origin of the “Toby Jug.” One theory was the jug was named after a character Sir Toby Belch from William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night. The character depicted an intoxicated but jovial man. Another theory was it was named after Henry Elwes or also known as Toby Fillpot or Philpot. Henry Elwes was an infamous 18th century Yorkshire drinker. There is yet another theory that it was inspired by an old English drinking song, "The Brown Jug", which paid tribute to Toby Fillpot.