Although exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1857 as The Port of London it would appear that the present work was then engraved by William Miller, for the subscribers to the Royal Scottish Association for promoting Fine Arts in Scotland, in 1863 under the title The Pool of London. Sidney Gilpin refers to the work in his book Sam Bough Some Account of his Life and Works as 'a small cabinet-sized picture, ... let the observer note how skillfully the awkward squareness of the steamboat - the most prominent object - has been woven into the busy scene. In composition and effect, this picture is not unworthy of Turner.' The painting was subsequently purchased by Lawrence Robertson, of Wemyss Bay and possibly further exhibited in Glasgow in 1901, no.342 as the property of D. Brodie Macleod.

Included in the lot is a copy of Sam Bough, R.S.A. Some Account of his Life and Works by the late Sidney Gilpin, (Chandon: George Bell & Sons, 1905). Original cloth (spine warn), enclosing an autograph letter signed from the artist (torn in folds) and from Jane Bough.