On board the P. & O. Ship Sultan Cape Trafalgar -

Executed in watercolour, the artist employs brisk, loosely applied brushstrokes to suggest movement and atmospheric effects. A limited palette of blues, greys and muted yellows conveys the mood of a stormy day, while the handling of light on the water and clouds creates a sense of immediacy.

The drawing’s authorship is uncertain; earlier attributions have mentioned E. A. Goodall, though no definitive documentation confirms this. It entered the public record in the mid‑19th century and has since been catalogued among maritime watercolours of the period.

Cape Trafalgar, famed for the 1805 naval battle, remained a navigational landmark for commercial vessels in the 1800s. The P. & O. line, a major British shipping company, frequently traversed this route, making the Sultan a representative example of the era’s oceanic trade.