Daniel Wildenstein (op. cit.) notes that this pastel is closely related to the painting Le val d'Antifer, 1885 (ibid., vol. II, no. 1039). However, he does not feel it is a study for the painting or a copy by the artist after it. Instead, it is an entirely independent and original work in which the artist renders the motif in a completely fresh manner. In the foreground is a douanier's hut, one of many built on remote sites along the channel coast during the Napoleonic Wars for use as a lookout point during the British blockade.