A watercolour of a Thames barge at anchor by the marine artist William Lionel Wyllie (1851-1931). The mainmast has been lowered on this barge, a feature of these craft that enabled them to go under bridges.

Thames barges were used to transport cargo around the Thames and Medway, and were very practical for shallow waters, often sporting leeboards just below the gunwales, which could be retracted in shallow water, as depicted here. For many years they were a dominant feature of life on the river. Principally employed as cargo vessels, the largest were capable of carrying up to 300 tons. Coastal steamers and motorised barges gradually replaced them, but they remained a common sight on the Thames well into the 20th century. A number of these vessels still survive in various roles, some fully active, some used as house barges, while others are available for chartering. Wyllie owned and sailed a Thames barge for a number of years, which he converted into a floating studio. He experimented with various watercolour techniques in many studies of vessels on the Thames.