American Toby Jug Museum 

Pooh Bah large size toby jug designed by Clarice Cliff and produced by Shorter & Son of Stoke-on-Trent, England, circa 1950. From the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "The Mikado", Pooh-Bah was an arrogant, buffoonish bureaucrat. Pooh-Bah, whose title is "Lord High Everything Else," very "humbly" agrees to accept several important government offices and their salaries after a series of officials resign. He'll do anything if the bribe is big enough, and he loves to strut and show off to anyone who might be impressed by his grandeur. "The Mikado", or "The Town of Titipu", is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened in London in March of 1885 where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theater and one of the longest runs of any theater piece up to that time. 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. The small size Pooh Bah toby jug stands 4 3/4" tall.