American Toby Jug Museum 

Oscar Wilde character jug modeled by David B. Biggs and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, as the 2000 Character Jug of the Year. Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish author most famous for his sophisticated, brilliantly witty plays. At the Colleges in Dublin and Oxford he distinguished himself for his scholarship and wit, and also for his eccentricity in dress, taste, and manners. His active literary career began in 1891 with the publication of his several collections of stories and fairy tales and his horror novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Although his stories and essays were well received, his creative genius found its highest expression in his plays ; "Lady Windermere's Fan", "A Woman of No Importance", "An Ideal Husband", and his masterpiece, "The Importance of Being Earnest", all of which were extremely clever and filled with pithy epigrams and paradoxes. From 1897, he lived in France until his death, plagued by ill health and bankruptcy. A pair of gloves, cane, carnation and play binders form the handle of this jug.