The exact location of this view of Thames barges on the industrial river is uncertain, although it is probably the view down Blackwall reach towards Woolwich. The artist is probably Emily Frances, Lady Phipps Hornby (née Coles), the wife of Admiral Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, who was President of the Royal Naval College from 1881 to November 1882, though he was knighted later and also rose to Admiral of the Fleet. There is another, larger and more accomplished drawing by the same artist in the collection, apparently of the same general view (PAG9842). The Museum manuscript collection holds the papers of three generations of this naval family.