A scene in the Thames Lower Pool, the large cargo ship, left, discharges its cargo into lighters. On the right two lighters are manoeuvred by men with sweeps.

Wyllie was a renowned London-born painter. As well as marine paintings, Wyllie also painted ship portraits, and especially pictures of battleships. Apart from being a painter, Wyllie was a noted etcher, and in the 1880s he produced illustrative work on a nautical theme for the magazines of the day.