The exquisite detail of this work implies that it could be a watercolour that Dutton wished to turn into one of his fine lithographs.

Despite extensive research, including reference to numerous Lloyd's Registers of Shipping, no paddle steamer named Harwich has been traced before the earliest recorded vessel built by Simpson's of London for the Great Eastern Railway's Harwich to Rotterdam service in 1864. Although this painting must depict this ship, the date of 1856 remains something of an enigma.