Duncan was originally trained as an engraver, and his first independent work as an artist was engraving coaching and marine prints. He was introduced to marine painting by William Huggins whose works he engraved and whose daughter Bertha he married. Although he travelled to Holland and Italy his sketching tours were generally confined to the Bristol Channel and the southern counties. He painted landscapes but is best known for his marine paintings which often feature beachcombers and fisherfolk, as in this watercolour, as well as rough and breezy weather. It is signed 'E. Duncan' and dated 1860; the Museum purchased it from Agnew's 111th annual exhbition of watercolours in 1984 (cat. no. 209, ill. p.33).