A Royal Navy frigate anchored off Harwich and preparing to get underway, with another frigate and coastal craft astern of her

Thomas Luny first exhibited in 1777, at the age of eighteen, and at the time was living with, and apprenticed to, Francis Holman (1729-1790). Luny's early style very much imitated that of Holman, and his master's influence is certainly in evidence in the present work.