Stars of the 19th century were often celebrated in paintings, prints and drawings, and in ceramic figurines. Several Staffordshire factories specialised in moulded earthenware portrait figurines and spill vases which were decorated by hand and sold cheaply. This shows Jenny Marston (ca.1837-1861) and Frederick Robinson (1832-1912) as Perdita and Florizel in Act IV, scene iii, of Samuel Phelps' revival of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, Sadler's Wells Theatre, 28 July 1851. The pose was copied from an engraving showing the scene in Bohemia - 'A Lawn before the Shepherd's Cottage' - published in Tallis's Shakespeare Gallery, 1852-1853, engraved by Sherratt after a daguerrotype by Paine of Islington.

At least seven earthenware portrait figurines are known to have been copied from engravings in Tallis's Shakespeare Gallery, known as 'Tallis figures'. They were made in many sizes and are thought to have been made by the Burslem potters Thomas Parr, who was working from 1852 until 1870, John Parr, who worked from 1870 to 1879, or the Kent & Parr firm, who worked from 1880 until 1894. These manufacturers passed the moulds to each other and the figures were produced throughout the Victorian period.