Earthenware flatbacks and figurines for mantelpiece decoration were first produced in Staffordshire in the late 1830s, and the earliest datable Staffordshire figures appear to be those of Queen Victoria. Images of royalty proved lucrative and during the 1840s countless other royal figures were issued by Staffordshire pottery firms. Although some Staffordshire portrait figures were produced after Victoria's death in 1901, few appear to have been produced after 1905. During their heyday however they were made in vast numbers, usually modelled after prints. As well as the royal family they represented a wide variety of subjects, actors and actresses being especially popular.