Ship portrait. Oil painting. 'Blackwall frigates' was the popular name given to the last generation of sailing East Indiamen designed and built by the Green family at their Blackwall shipyard in the 1840s, for both the East Indies and Australian trade. They were given it for their lines and speed and often had 'painted ports' as in this example albeit no longer armed with guns on the upper deck. It may have still been considered a deterrent against piratic attack in the East but was more a decorative tradition, finally most associated with the shipping firm of Devitt & Moore. [PvdM 2/18]