Earthenware flatbacks and figurines for mantelpiece decoration were first produced in Staffordshire in the late 1830s. The earliest datable figures appear to be of Queen Victoria. Production of earthenware figures continued throughout Victoria's lifetime, but although they were still made after her death in 1901, few appear to have been produced after 1905. During their heyday, however, they were produced in vast numbers, usually modelled after prints. They represented a wide variety of subjects but those of actors and actresses were especially popular, and this is Isabella Glyn (1823-1889) as Lady Macbeth. The source for this figurine was a plate in the Tallis Shakespeare Gallery engravings, 1852-1853. It is modelled in the style of the Parr factory and was issued in two sizes.

Isabella Glyn was born Isabella Gearns in Edinburgh, studied acting in Paris, had acting lessons from Charles Kemble, and went on the stage against her Presbyterian parents' wishes, using her mother's maiden name of Glyn. She made her first professional appearance in King John at Manchester in 1847, followed in 1848 by her first London appearance at the Olympic Theatre as Lady Macbeth, a role she played again in 1850 at Sadler's Wells Theatre with Samuel Phelps as Macbeth. Isabella Glyn was a statuesque actress with a voluptuous figure, a resonant voice, a dark complexion and strong expressive features. It was said of her portrayal of Cleopatra in 1867 that: 'Antony might well lose the world for such a woman'.