Dark and deeply etched barges sit at the left and centre. Diagonal and horizontal lines have been scratched from left to centre. There are light blotches of ink at each corner. The Thames has played an important role in London's history as it handled the bulk of the country's overseas trade long before any cargo-handling docks were developed in London.

Technique includes drypoint.; Signed by artist.

Mortimer Menpes was an Australian and British artist whose etchings were influenced by Japanese culture and etching, and the work of James Abbott McNeill Whistler. In 1886 Menpes collaborated with two writers Justin McCarthy and Rosa Praed to produce The Grey River, an illustrated book about the River Thames. The book was published in 1889, and while McCarthy and Praed’s text centred on history, many of Menpes’s illustrations show industrial scenes, such as wharves, dredges, barges and warehouses. A highly prolific artist, Menpes etched more than 500 plates on various subjects.