American Toby Jug Museum 

Queen Elizabeth I handle-less character jug produced by Masion Alteri of Erice, Italy, circa 1900. Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from November 17, 1558, until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last monarch of the House of Tudor and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. After Henry, Elizabeth's half-brother Edward VI ruled until his own death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statute law to the contrary. Edward's will was set aside and Mary became queen. Upon her half-sister's death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. This jug is a pair, along with Sultan Murad III, that together celebrate Elizabeth's fruitful alignment with the Islamic world that paved the way for its transformation into a global commercial empire.