An English merchant brig and coastal craft becalmed by moonlight

Brooking painted three moonlight scenes, of which this is one, with the moon shining on the sea on a windless night. The ships vary in each painting from men-o'war to merchant brigs, but in all three there are a number of other vessels in the compositions. In the present work, the main vessel is brig-rigged rather than ship-rigged and the mizzen yard is cut off at the mast (this change in rig occurred in the early 1750s). The mud bank is in the centre foreground of this version with the remains of a jetty to the left. The channel mark, a stake without a topmast is on the right of the painting.

For a similar version with minor differences, see E.H.H. Archibald, Dictionary of Sea Painters, Woodbridge, 1980, 1st ed., illus. dust jacket cover & p. 132, col. pl. XIV.