This is a ship portrait, viewed from the port quarter. On the tafferel are the head and shoulders of two persons, one above the other, enclosed within a circle. The rest of the panel is covered with fleur de lis.

This work is an offset; it is one of seven drawings of French ships made probably in June or July 1673, when van de Velde visited the fleet refitting after the first battle of Schooneveld. All, except PAH3896, are drawing in isometric perspective.

There is some dispute about which ship is represented here. It is possibly the ‘Fort’, formerly the ‘Sophie’; a three-decker bought from Denmark in 1666 and cut down to a two-decker in 1670.