One of the distinctly French and Belgian majolica collecting categories is the figural character jug. I have written in the past about their popular animal pitchers but never specifically about the human character pitchers made by French speaking companies during the last quarter of the 19th and 20th century. The characters represented are persons well known to the areas of the pottery that made them, general known stereotypes, historic characters, humorous figures and particularly well known personalities. These would be tbe equivalent to the American and English toby jugs named after the legendary drinker Toby Phillpot.
These do not include the head/face pitchers, or grotesques, as they are sometimes called. I have written about these here. I also do not include decanters which I have written about here. The pitchers featured here include the full body or at least part of the body or bust of the person depicted and not just the head alone.
Many companies made these pitchers, like St. Amand-les-Éaux, Onnaing, Orchies, Nimy-les-Mons and others. While not as popular outside of Europe as the animal pitchers made by the same companies, they make for an intriguing display as a collectible.
Let's. begin with the pitchers of Orchies.
Onnaing also made these types. of pitchers.
Wasmuël, Fives-Lille, Serreguamines and numerous other potteries made them as well.
There are many others that I have not included here but this should give some idea of how popular they were.
Until 2025 there was a museum in Evanston, IL dedicated to all types of Toby jugs including some of these European character pitchers.
The founder, Stephan Mullins, accumulated the collection over 40 years encompassing 12,000 pitchers of all kinds, but leaning towards English and American jugs. He operated the museum until his death in 2020. His heirs followed his wishes and kept it open for another five years, closing it in March 2025 after which the collection was dispersed.
Mullins, along with museum manager David Fastenau and Bertrand Cocq, who is a specialist in European French and Belgian majolica, published a book on the subject A World of Majolica Character Pitchers, both animal and human. Although the museum is now closed, you can still purchase their book. I highly recommend it. It is available through Amazon as well as other book dealers.
