Print from the oil painting by Paton, now in the Royal Collection (RCIN405165). It is one of a set of which the other oil originals are RCIN4015164 of Deptford, 401526 of Woolwich, 401543 of Portsmouth, 405165 of Chatham and 405166 of Sheerness. That of Portsmouth is apparently the earliest since Thomas Jones reported in late July 1770 that Paton was doing views of the dockyards and James Hamilton Mortimer (1740-79), who had agreed to do the figures on the 27th, had almost immediately set off for Portsmouth. Horace Walpole wrote on 17 February 1775 that Paton had showed 'views of the royal dockyards at Deptford and Chatham' to the King at Buckingham House and that the King was pleased to 'express satisfaction at his performance'. The presumption is that they were painted for the king or that he at least bought them, though Plymouth is for some reason excluded or missing. If a later purchase rather than a 1770 commission, the king's interest was probably as consequence of the official visits he made to the yards at that time under Lord Sandwich's final tenure (of three) as First Lord of the Admiralty, 1771-82. Some of Mortimer's figure studies for the paintings are in the British Museum. Chatham was by this period more important as a shipbuilding and repair yard than an operational one as it had been in the 17th century when the Dutch were a major threat. (Nelson’s ‘Victory’, for example, was completed at Chatham in 1765.) Since then the rising power of France and ease of access to the Atlantic had reinforced the importance of Portsmouth and led in the 1690s to the founding of Plymouth Dockyard. While Paton painted five yards, the Museum only has the prints derived from his oils of Chatham, Deptford and Woolwich, all of which bear a 1793 publication date - two years after his death in 1791. While Paton painted five yards, the Museum only has the prints derived from his oils of Chatham and Deptford, both of which bear a 1793 publication date - two years after his death. It is not yet clear if prints of Woolwich, Portsmouth and Sheerness existed. [PvdM 2/16: updated 7/23]