Print (second editon) from the oil painting by Paton, now in the Royal Collection (RCIN405164). It is one of a set of which the others are RCIN401526 of Woolwich, 401543 of Portsmouth, 405165 of Chatham and 405166 of Sheerness. That of Portsmouth dated 1770, is apparently the earliest since Thomas Jones reported in late July 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. Some of Mortimer's figure studies for the paintings are now in the British Museum. Horace Walpole wrote on 17 February 1775 - three days after this print of Deptford was first published - that Paton had showed 'views of the royal dockyards at Deptford and Chatham' to the King at Buckingham House and that he had been pleased to 'express satisfaction at his performance'. The presumption is that the oils 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 in the 1770s under Lord Sandwich's final tenure (of three) as First Lord of the Admiralty, 1771-82.

This view looks downriver from Deptford towards the church of St Alfege, Greenwich, and Greenwich Hospital, with a royal yacht firing a salute on the left. Paton exhibited the original painting as no. 220 at the Royal Academy in 1776 with the title 'A view of his Majesty's dockyard at Deptford and the royal Hospital at Greenwich, with the procession of the Trinity Masters, being part of a set of views of the royal dockyards'. This identifies the lead barge and probably others as flying the colours of Trinity House - originally based at Deptford - on the occasion of the Court of the brotherhood making their annual visitation there to meet, dine and inspect their almshouses in the town, where the day was one of local celebration. While Paton painted five yards, the Museum only has the prints derived from his oils of Chatham and Deptford. The Deptford plate was first published on 14 February 1775 and Woollett, the engraver, showed an impression as no. 313 at the Society of Artists that year. This suggests that there were 1770s editions of at least some of the others in the series. The Museum does have a 1775 copy of Deptford (PAH9728) but otherwise only others of both Deptford and Chatham dated 1793, two years after Paton's death. [PvdM 2/16: updated 7/23]