An Estuary at Sunset, with a moored fishing boat in the foreground

The subject of this scene has been identified as both a view on the Teign with Haytor Rocks and a view on the Exe near Lymstone. Danby did not move to Exmouth until 1846, a year later than the date on the reverse of the picture, but this does not exclude the possibility that the picture is based on a Devon view. Technically it is very similar to his 'Figures Fording the River Dart' (see the exhibition catalogue, Francis Danby, Bristol, Museum and Art Gallery, and London, Tate Gallery, 1988-1989, no.46), particularly in the astute observation of the effects of evening light. That picture was dated in the catalogue of the exhibition to circa 1850 but may well be earlier. The exact identity of Edward Hare to whom the picture is recorded as having been given remains unclear: he does not appear to have been a member of the family of floor-cloth manufacturers one of whom was a major patron of the arts in Bristol.