American Toby Jug Museum 

Louise Irvine prototype character jug produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, circa 1990. Louise Irvine is an established lecturer and writer with a special interest in nineteenth and twentieth century ceramics. A graduate in Fine Arts from Edinburgh University, she has written numerous books and articles about Royal Doulton wares and, in 1980, initiated the Royal Doulton International Collectors Club, where she edited and wrote for the quarterly magazine and produced many exhibitions. She is regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Royal Doulton wares. Royal Doulton sculptor Rob Tabbenor modeled this Louise character jug and chose a cute Tinworth mouse and vase for the handle. Unfortunately, it was felt he hadn't quite captured Louise's likeness and so his prototype was not developed for production. When Rob's prototype version came on to the market, Louise was very excited as this was the first time that she had seen both of her portrait jugs side by side.