First Fleet artwork collection

View of a ship sailing past the Needles, Isle of Wight. The ship, in the foreground at lower right, is possibly HMS Hyena, the naval frigate which accompanied the First Fleet out of the English Channel. The coastline behind includes the Needles labelled "2" at the centre of the composition, with grey hills terminating in St Catherine's Point labelled "1" at the extreme right. The white cliff of Scratchell's Bay to the right of the Needles is topped with a pillar which is inscribed "E:N". The pale yellow and orange coloured cliffs of Alum Bay can be seen to the left, with Hurst Castle on the mainland at the extreme left. The sea is represented by a gradated wash of pale grey-blue, overlaid with horizontal grey brush marks towards the foreground and curved bands around the prow of the ship to indicate its movement. The sky is largely unpainted towards the horizon, with blue washes towards the top. The drawing is framed with a thick black ink line and a triple-banded border, the central band of which is coloured with a pink wash and contains the title in a panel at the bottom. The signature and date are located in the inner band at lower right. Most of the outer band appears to have been lost through the drawing having been cropped.