Victorian Staffordshire portrait figures were cheaply made for the lower end of the market. Unlike most late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Staffordshire figures, which had been assembled from several moulded or modelled parts, they were usually made in three-piece moulds (front, back and base). Consequently they had simpler contours and integral pedestals, often titled in raised or indented letters. Early examples were gaily coloured in underglaze blue and onglaze enamels, but from the 1860s colour was applied more sparingly. By that date many of the figures had almost flat, undecorated backs. This helped manufacturers to reduce production costs and increase their output. The change did not deter potential customers because the figures were usually displayed on mantlepieces or dressers where the back was not visible.

Portraits of royalty were very popular. This group commemorates the announcement of the betrothal of Victoria, Princess Royal, to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1857. The couple first met in 1851, when the Prince and his parents visited the Great Exhibition, and he proposed while on holiday with the royal family at Balmoral in September 1855. After their marriage on 25 January 1858, the same group was re-issued with the words ‘Pr & Prss.of.Prussia’. Like many other Staffordshire portrait groups, it presents a stereotyped view of the subjects. The Princess is scarcely recognizable as the intelligent young woman shown in Winterhalter's portrait which was issued as a print in 1856.