The ship Liverpool in the Mersey, seen from the Wallasey foreshore, 1810

Depicting the distant Liverpool waterfront across a wide estuary poses problems of composition. At this period when Wallasey was undeveloped, an attractive solution was to view it obliquely as seen from the north-west, including part of the unspoiled Wallasey foreshore as foreground. Beached; vessels on the right of the painting not only enhanced the nautical flavour, but helped 'frame' the distant panorama. As in this instance, human interest was often imparted by passengers wading or being conveyed ashore from a ferry in the foreground. The mouth of the Mersey lies off the painting to the left. Its broad upper reaches are visible between the masts of the small boat athwart the bluff bows of the Dutch ketch on the right. In the middle distance on the left of the painting, a British ship is seen in port quarter view. Most unusually for Salmon the vessel is identifiable, the characters LIVERPOOL appearing across the stern. Lloyd's Register for 1810 has only one such entry, a six year old ship built in Philadelphia, voyaging between Liverpool and Philadelphia, and commanded by Captain Bryan. Close to the water's edge, on the left of LIVERPOOL may be seen the Townsend windmill, its arms turned to face the southerly wind. The dome on the skyline to the right of the ship is that of St. Paul's. Then that of the Town Hall, followed by the spire of St. George's. Just to the left of the wherry's mizzen mast is the spire of St. Nicholas. The spire collapsed in 1810, the year of the painting, its replacement in 1814 having a more sophisticated 'lantern' design.
We are grateful to Mr. A.S. Davidson for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.