(Updated, November 2021) In the foreground are two rowing boats off the shoreline of Blackwall Point, on the Greenwich Peninsula. One is laden with supplies and the other (right) is a peter boat, a distinctive Thames and Medway fishing craft, with a wet-fish well in the centre, fed through holes in the bottom of the boat, to keep the catch alive until landed. There was a large concentration of the larger sort working downstream out of Greenwich at the time, with smaller ones used further upstream to well above London. In the distance, the Royal Hospital at Greenwich is just visible on the skyline. To the right foreground are two small sailing vessels, becalmed, with a rowing boat, near the shore of the Isle of Dogs, still largely a rural area at this time. There is another group of vessels in the distance.

The painting is in the style of A.W. Callcott and may be by G. Butland. It is a close copy of a work commissioned from Callcott by John Soane in 1827, still in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum (SM P313). Another good but damaged oil copy is in the local Greenwich collection (Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust).