A portrait of the barque ‘Queen Bee', shown broadside-on. The ship flies the flag with her name on the main mast. A lighthouse and coastal scene with houses can be seen in the distance on the left. There is other shipping in the painting, including a steamship billowing smoke on the right.

Built in 1852 in Sunderland, the ‘Queen Bee’ was a full rigged 3-masted Barque with a wooden hull. She was registered in Dumfries, Scotland, and in 1857 the wooden hull was apparently sheathed in ‘felt and yellow metal’.

The painting has been signed and dated by the artist ‘J. Heard 1855’.