Wool embroidery showing a sailing warship in profile, with a deep hull and thirteen gunports, wearing the White Ensign and a commissioning pennant. The sails are padded and the rigging is made of cotton. The embroidery is in its original maple frame. It was made by the donor's uncle Staff-Sergeant David Joseph Mead (1850-1941), who served in the Royal Marines from 1862 to 1888. The embroidery was produced during his retirement and is loosely based on his old ship 'Cumberland' 1842 (third-rate). Mead served on 'Cumberland' during the 1860s when she was a guard ship at Sheerness.