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ITEM


Shaw Brothers, who used the brand Burlington Ware, were a short-lived English pottery who only operated in the Mid 20th Century from 1920 to 1963 but were well known for their collectable character Toby Jugs.


This particular creative piece of work, in the form of the Treasure Island character, "Long John Silver", is rather special because it is also a musical jug that plays the traditional 17th Century English patriotic song, "Here's a Health unto His Majesty". The history of the tune goes back all the way to the reign of King Charles 11. Its use with the jug may be because the song became popular again during the near fatal illness of King George V in 1928 and was sometimes sung in theatres before "God Save the King".


This tall, hand-painted jug features the one legged, Treasure Island pirate "Long John Silver" with his legendary parrot on his shoulder and with cutlass in hand.


The wooden base has a winding handle and small pressure peg that means the jug starts to play when it is picked up.


Because of the wooden base, there is no traditional maker's mark, but this is a well-known period piece by Burlington. Usually, the musical mechanism is a Swiss Reuge movement but we haven't removed the wooden base to check. 


CONDITION


We think this interesting Toby Jug has been around for some 70 to 80 years and has survived well without chips or cracks. The only evidence of age and use are two pin prick size losses of paint to the left of the nose (see images). We think that one of them may be an exploded bubble in the glaze. There's also tiny white mark on the lips, but a finger tip inspection suggests that it is under the glaze so may be no more than highlighting by the decorator.

PRICING

 

Whenever possible our asking prices are based on either our knowledge of the genre or on what similar pieces have been sold for on the international market, rather than what some sellers are asking, which are usually two very different things!

 

You will normally find that our prices sit somewhere in the middle between auction and professional dealer prices and the current market. We are always willing to consider realistic offers. We notice that similar jugs are being offer at close to £100, but we think our asking price is about right for today's market.

 

SHIPPING

 

We have a 100pc success rate for over a decade in successfully shipping fragile antiques and collectables across the UK and the wider World. We only charge what the Post Office and couriers charge us and subsidise the cost of packing materials.

 

International shipping? Since Covid, we have started to use eBay's Global Shipping Programme for packages over 2kg because it has proved to be competitive and reliable.

 

WE ALWAYS TRY TO HAVE AN INTERESTING RANGE 

OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES

 IN OUR EBAY SHOP AT... 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/collectorlink11