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. This flatback represents David Garrick as Richard III in the famous tent scene before the Battle of Bosworth, haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered. It was modelled after a painting of 1745 by William Hogarth which was later reproduced in engravings. In the painting his hand is raised in a gesture of horror and not as the rather benign royal wave it appears to be in the flatback.

David Garrick (1717-1779) was recognised during his lifetime as one of the greatest actors in both comedy and tragedy. He was born in Hereford, came to London in 1737 to work as a wine merchant but made his London debut as an actor at Goodman's Fields as Richard III in 1741. He managed the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 1747 until 1776 and was depicted in many of his most famous roles during his lifetime, especially in paintings by Johann Zoffany (1733-1810). Richard III was a role with which he was especially associated, both from his London debut and from his first appearance at Drury Lane Theatre on 11 May 1742.