American Toby Jug Museum 

Dick Deadeye large size toby jug designed by Betty Silvester and produced by Shorter & Son of Stoke-on-Trent, England, circa 1950. From the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "H.M.S. Pinafore", Dick Deadeye is as ugly as his name implies, He is a fellow crew member who tries to sabotage Ralph Rakestraw’s happiness. Ralph is an able seaman who is secretly in love with Josephine, Captain Cocoran's daughter. "H.M.S. Pinafore", or "The Lass That Loved a Sailor" is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London in May of 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theater piece up to that time. "H.M.S. Pinafore" was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. With permission from D'Oyly Carte, Shorter modeled this series based on the actor and costumes from the operas and posing in scenes from the operas. A heavy twisted rope forms the handle of the jug. Note B. Silvester impressed on the side of the pylon. The small Dick Deadeye toby jug stands 4 3/4" tall.