Souvenir figures such as this became popular in the 1920s, apparently after a set representing dancers with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Company were issued by Cyril Beaumont. He had the idea in about 1914 to produce them from artwork representing the dancers in costume, hoping they would: 'supply the demand for something between a photograph and a statuette'. A 1928 catalogue of Beaumont's publications notes: 'The figures, which are of wood, average 8¾ inches high, and are hand-coloured with special care to ensure accuracy of costume. The black stands on which the figures are mounted are easily removable to afford facility in packing. The figures are priced at 7s.6d. net.'

This figure of Derek Oldham is one of several representing singers in roles they played with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company productions in its 1919 to 1922 seasons at London's Princes Theatre. They were reproduced from photographs and would have been issued in 1922 by the Artograph Technical and Photographic Company, located at 16, Grape Street, New Oxford Street, behind the Princes Theatre.

The tenor Derek Oldham began his professional career in musical theatre in 1914 in The Daring of Diane at the London Pavilion before serving in the Scots Guards during the first World War. He joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in August 1919, appearing as Alexis in The Sorcerer, Earl Tolloller in Iolanthe, Cyril in Pricess Ida, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Colonel Fairfax in The Yeomen of the Guard, and Marco in The Gondoliers in his first season. In 1920 he added the roles of Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, and Richard Dauntless in HMS Pinafore. in 1921 he swapped Cyril for Prince Hilarion in Princess Ida. He left to go into musical comedy in the summer of 1922, becoming a lead singer-actor at Drury Lane and other West End theatres throughout the 1920s. He returned to the D'Oyly Carte for seasons in the late 1920s and 1930s and appeared on nineteen full and abridged HMV recordings of the operas.