American Toby Jug Museum 

Little Nell tiny character jug modeled by Michael Abberley and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, between 1982-1989. Nelly Trent, known as Little Nell, is the central character from Charles Dickens' novel "The Old Curiosity Shop". She lives with her gambling-addicted, mentally infirm grandfather, the owner of the Old Curiosity Shop. When he falls into the clutches of Daniel Quilp, the evil dwarf who lends money to the old man, she helps him escape London. The hardships endured during their wanderings are too much for the delicate Nell and she dies in a quiet village where she and her grandfather had gained employment. Allegedly Dickens wept when he wrote Nell's death scene. The character Nell exemplifies the blend of social realism and fairy tale common in Dickens' work. An adolescent whose maturation is unnaturally accelerated by the challenge of managing her grandfather's unstable, manipulative and self-destructive behavior, Nell is nonetheless enshrined as Little Nell, a pure child whose death brings those around her closer to Christian spirituality. This jug was produced to commemorate the 170th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth.