{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O125398"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O125398/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9129/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9129/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AB9129","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HJ5257","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HJ5258","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HJ5259","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HJ5261","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O125398/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O125398","accessionNumber":"S.1034-1996","objectType":"Figure group","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"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, and although a few figures were produced 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. \r\n\r\nThis flatback represents King John of England (1167-1216), the youngest son of Henry II signing Magna Carta.  After a failed attempt to seize the crown from his brother King Richard, John was crowned in 1199, and at Runneymede in 1215 signed the Magna Carta, the basis of the English constitution.  Shakespeare wrote <i>The Life and Death of King John</i> in 1596-8.  Its production at the Princess's Theatre in 1852 with Charles Kean in the title role, may have been the impetus for the production of this figure group.","physicalDescription":"Flatback group of King John signing Magna Carta, seated in a tent, with pages on each side.  Cream, decorated in multi-colours - pink, green, orange, blue, green and grey  The page girl on his right holds a container of feathers.  Flags surmount the tent on either side.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Earthenware","id":"x29356"},{"text":"Glaze","id":"AAT15091"},{"text":"porcelain","id":"AAT10662"},{"text":"ceramic","id":"AAT235507"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Glazed earthenware","categories":[{"text":"Figures & Decorative ceramics","id":"THES48954"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2006AB9129","2015HJ5257","2015HJ5258","2015HJ5259","2015HJ5261"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES355437"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"figurines","id":"AAT47455"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Staffordshire","id":"x29181"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1850","earliest":"1845-01-01","latest":"1854-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"32.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"23.0","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum width","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"8.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Flatback group of King John signing Magna Carta.  Earthenware, Staffordshire, c.1850.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Staffordshire Portraits of the Victorian Era</i> by P.D. Gordon Pugh"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.1034-1996"],"accessionNumberNum":"1034","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1996,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-06-23","availableToBook":true}}