American Toby Jug Museum 

Sir Joseph Porter small 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 "H.M.S. Pinafore", Sir Joseph Porter is a pompous naval commander with absolutely no seagoing experience, yet he is the first lord of the admiralty. Porter explains exactly how he came to his position in his song “When I Was a Lad.” "H.M.S. Pinafore", or "The Lass That Loved a Sailor" is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London in May of 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theater piece up to that time. "H.M.S. Pinafore" was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. 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. This is the larger of two known sizes. The large size Joseph Porter toby jug stands 10" tall.