(Updated February 2020) This was for a long time the only known surviving oil painting by Gabriel Bray (1750-1823), though others have now (2020) appeared on the market. The vessel is probably naval, since a number of guns have been landed on the quay prior to her being hove down for breaming, which is what is being shown. A small naval sloop appears to the right, with a further vessel beyond with only lower masts standing. This therefore appears to be a fairly substantial repair facility and it may be a scene in the West Indies, to which Bray made two voyages via the West African coast when second lieutenant of HMS ‘Pallas’ in 1774-76. Between 1774–77 the ‘Pallas’ made a series of voyages to the West African coast, the purpose of which was to survey and report on the forts and factories then under British control. The picture is signed at the lower left.

As a committed amateur artist, Gabriel Bray also made numerous watercolour drawings of both the places and people visited and of daily life on board ship. Bray presented this maritime world in all its multifaceted variety. He provided scenes made prior to the voyage’s departure of port and dockyard personalities and locations, genre and portrait depictions of life on board the ‘Pallas’ and coastal profiles of the forts that were the object of inspection. The NMM holds over 70 of these drawings.