I want to hold your handle! Rare Beatles toby jugs are set to fetch £25k at auction
- Beatles toby jugs have emerged for sale at £25,000 at Florida-based auctioneers
- Jugs made 20 years ago by Royal Doulton and intended for mass production
- The plan was shelved, and only three sets of 5in-tall jugs are known to survive
They are incredibly rare and should be instantly recognisable.
But while Paul McCartney will be identified by most fans, it takes a bit more imagination to see John Lennon and George Harrison among these Beatles toby jugs – and the other seems to bear little resemblance to Ringo Starr.
The jugs of the Fab Four, dressed in their Sgt Pepper attire from 1967, as right – but without moustaches – have emerged for sale for £25,000. They were made about 20 years ago by Royal Doulton and intended to be mass produced. However, the plan was shelved, and only three sets of the 5in-tall jugs are known to survive.
Beatles toby jugs have emerged for sale at £25,000 at Florida-based auctioneers
This set will be sold on Tuesday by Florida-based auctioneers Lion & Unicorn for the widow of a British-born US businessman.
The other two known sets reside in the American Toby Jug Museum in Chicago and a separate private collection.
Arthur Rios, part-owner of Lion & Unicorn, said: ‘These prototype Beatles jugs were made about 20 years ago by Royal Doulton but never produced.
Guess who? Paul McCartney (left) and Ringo Starr (right) as Toby jugs
John Lennon (left) and George Harrison (right) as Toby jugs, which were never mass produced
‘I’m sure they would have been very popular so I am not sure why they didn’t come to market, but the company was going through some changes of ownership at the time.
‘There are only three sets known to exist so they are extremely rare and it is very exciting to offer them at auction.
‘They belonged to a late English-born businessman who lived in America.
‘He has now died and his vast collection is being sold by his widow.’
The sale takes place on January 26.