This pitcher was probably used in a tavern. Depicted on one side are Masonic symbols. Although Masonry was strong in early America, with a membership that boasted businessmen, politicians, and professionals, the organization came under scrutiny in the 1820s. Ministers of the Second Great Awakening aroused the suspicions of the public to the philosophical underpinnings of the organization, while others decried Masons as being undemocratic in their practices. The fraternal organization survived this controversy and still exists today. The opposite side of the jug appeals to more low-brow tastes. Its central image, “Toby Filpot,” is typically shown as a bulky old man holding a jug of ale and a pipe. Filpot was a popular character in the song “Toby Filpot” or “The Brown Jug” composed in 1761, by the Rev. Francis Fawkes. Filpot was endearing because most English pubs had at least one regular customer who closely resembled him.