The Marquis of Ely, an East India Company ship of 1200 tons, made eight voyages to China, seven of them under the command of Sir Robert Wigram, between 1801 and 1819. The only time the ship appears to have called at Madras was in July 1804. However, it is likely that the artist used an engraving of this well known view as reference for the background rather than depicting the site as it appeared on a particular voyage