American Toby Jug Museum 

General Gordon character jug modeled by William K. Harper and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, in a 1991 special edition of 1,500 commissioned by UK International Ceramics. British general Charles George Gordon (1833-1885) became a national hero for his exploits in China and his ill-fated defense of Khartoum against Sudanese rebels. He distinguished himself in the Crimean War and, as commander of a peasant force of 3,500 raised to defend Shanghai, led them to suppress the Taiping Rebellion of 1860. Appointed governor general of the province of Equatoria in the Sudan, he asserted his authority, crushing rebellions and suppressing the slave trade. In 1884 Gordon returned to the Sudan to evacuate from Khartoum Egyptian forces threatened by Sudanese rebels. There he was cut off and besieged for ten months before the rebels broke into the city, killing Gordon and the other defenders. The British public acclaimed Gordon of Khartoum a martyred warrior-saint; however, historians have since suggested that Gordon defied orders and refused to evacuate Khartoum even though it remained possible until late in the siege. A camel's head and Khartoum ensign form the handle of the jug.