Royal Doulton Large size Mephistopheles character jug with verse, mint condition

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Royal Doulton Large size Mephistopheles character jug with verse, mint condition:
$1100.00

Royal Doulton - Character / Toby Jug; Mephistopheles with verse
Rare, fine, beautiful and mint condition collectors item.Manufactured and hand painted in England between 1937 and 1948. It numbers D5757
Original 2-faced Large Jug.This striking 2-faced jug was designed by Charles Noke and Harry Fenton.
A 16th Century German legend was the origin of this character created by Johann von Goethe in his famous story of Faust. Mephistopheles is portrayed as an evil spirit or devil to whom Faust sells his soul. Faust exchanged his soul for the satisfaction of his varied desires in life. His sad lesson was that life was short, while the afterlife, separated from his beloved, was long.
The jug is approx. 7” tall.
This particular Jug has the Royal Doulton backstamp and the verse on the bottom.It is in mint condition and without any chips or crazing (which are very hard to find).

Mephistopheles was the very first double sided / two faced character jug to be produced and remained so for fifty years! Both a smiling and a glum faced Mephistopheles are depicted. His mood was dependent on if he was able to make a deal for a soul or not. This jug is particularly rare and sought after owing to the fact that it was one of the very few jugs produced during WWII, when production numbers were greatly diminished, due to wartime restrictions that prohibited the production of decorated china for the UK market.

Mephistopheles is listed on page 214 of A Century of Royal Doulton Character & Toby Jugs, and in The Royal Doulton Jugs Charlton Standard Catalogue 10th edition on page 265.