Woolwork picture depicting a first-rate naval vessel under sail, wearing a Red Ensign and with a female figurehead. The ensigns dates the picture to before 1864. A starboard broadside view of the ship is shown. The embroidery is worked in wool in chain stitch and is mounted in a contemporary frame with the remains of a label suspended below.

The maker, William Angus entered The Royal Navy on 22 November 1848. He served in HMS ‘Superb’ in the Mediterranean until June 1852, then in HMS ‘Tiger’ in the Crimea. She ran aground in fog on 12 May 1854 and surrendered to Russian forces after coming under fire from the shore; the crew were taken prisoner. Following an exchange of prisoners, William Angus served for six months on HMS ‘Albion’, and was promoted Able Seaman. He travelled back to England in ‘Bellerophon’ as a supernumary and was discharged. He seems to have died before the 1881 census. The ship depicted is not any of the vessels on which he served.