Inscribed below, within ornamental round brackets: “his Majestys ship the Sandwich of 90 Guns admiral Parker Commander on her Passage home from the West Indies with Compte [sic] De Grasse a Prisoner of war on Board”; and to the right of this, “Benjn Toddy fecit”.

‘Sandwich’ is shown centrally in port-broadside view, with the majority of her sails unfurled and all but her lower deck guns run out, cruising in a calm sea, and flying a George’s Cross at her foretop and a white ensign at her stern; a selection of smaller vessels punctuate an otherwise empty horizon.

The event depicted occurred following France’s defeat in the Battle of the Saintes on 9-12 April 1782. On 18 May ‘Sandwich’ left Port Royal, Jamaica, under Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker, with the Comte de Grasse – the defeated fleet commander – held captive on board for transit to London. The ship arrived in England and had paid off by August.

This picture was published as “one of series of primitive portraits by a foot painter who was presumably a disabled seaman” in Gardiner (ed.) ‘Navies and the American Revolution, 1775-1783’ (Chatham Publishing/NMM, 1996), p.130, fig.4. Recent research has established that Toddy was a Greenwich pensioner 1783-95 who, according to inscriptions on other similar works, painted without the use of his hands, bar his left thumb. See artist description for full biographical details.