Royal Doulton Kingsware Jug with Pipe-Smoker and a Witticism

This Kingsware jug by Royal Doulton depicts a pub visitor in the satirical style of William Hogarth and is inscribed with a humorous saying. On one side, the pub-goer has a self-satisfied, content expression and is dressed in prosperous rural attire while smoking a long-handled white clay pub pipe. On the other side is a hand-written saying: "It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright." The decorative geometrical swirls are in he Art Nouveau taste. Charles Noke, the Art Director and main designer at Royal Doulton, developed Kingsware at the company to compete in the Art Pottery markets with the tastes of the Aesthetic Movement, Art Nouveau, and Arts & Crafts styles in mind. Kingsware, a Noke-created technological innovation unique to Royal Doulton, is especially noted for its lustrous brown glaze featuring underglaze amber-colored and polychrome raised details, which were painted on the inside of the mold before firing. This line of Royal Doulton Art Pottery became a major collecting field in the early twentieth century. Kingsware was in production from 1898 to 1939. On the bottom are stilt marks from the kiln firing, and the stamped black hallmark of a crowned lion standing on a larger crown over a medallion inscribed with the words "Royal Doulton England", which dates the piece to 1898-1911.
This jug is typical of the high quality of workmanship at Royal Doulton, and the sense of humor and playfulness of Charles Noke.