Portrait of the ‘IJlst' depicted from the starboard quarter. On the tafferel are the arms of IJlst (a depiction of a sailing boat with a crown above). On the rail above is a full-length figure with lions on either side. There are two shields on the counter. On the port side is a lion rampant and on the starboard side are the crossed anchors representing the Admiralty of Amsterdam.

The work is signed in brown ink in the lower left-hand corner, ‘W.V.V.J’.

This work is one of five drawings (the others being PAH3859, PAH5015, PAH3860, PAH1770) in which the stern decoration of the ships has been executed accurately and in great detail using pencil and wash. The sides of the ships, however, have a dull, flat wash over them. The works are all probably based on offsets but are not seen in reverse. They have been approximately dated to 1665 based on the subjects and the watermarks on the paper.

The 'IJlst' was also depicted by van de Velde as an offset, (PAH3862). The drawing is closely related to an offset by van de Velde the Elder depicting of the ‘IJlst’ in the Boymans Museum, Rotterdam (MB 1866/ T 272) in which the ship is seen from the port bow.