On the sail of the junk shown there is an inscription bearing five Chinese characters, namely, 'Fo Shan Lian He Dian Zao' ('manufactured by the United Shop in Foshan'). The inscription probably refers to the manufacturer of the sails, rather than the name of the artistic workshop from which the picture came. See additional notes on BHC1181. Painted on the stern of the junk are three Chinese characters 'Li Wan Jin' ( from right to left), literally 'May our profit be ten thousand pieces of gold'. To the left is an American full-rigged ship, possibly a warship or a trader decorated in 'painted ports' style; to the right a rakishly rigged and fast British brigantine. All the vessels are shown in almost flat calm.

A painting very similar to BHC1182 appears in the background of a photograph that Scottish photographer John Thomson took in a Hong Kong artist’s studio in 1869; the negative is in the Wellcome Collection (Wellcome Library no. 19840i). This suggests that BHC1182 and its possible pair BHC1181 were probably painted in Hong Kong around that year. The specific studio that Thomson visited has not yet been identified.