The son of a Swiss sculptor, Webber studied in Berne and Paris before entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1775. The following year, however, he went as the official artist on Captain Cook's third voyage to the South Seas. Many of the resulting drawings were engraved for the Admiralty's account of the expedition, published in 1784.

This large, typically detailed drawing depicts Nootka Sound on what is now Vancouver Island. The ships anchored there for a refit in April 1778 and observations were made using the tents and instruments which can be seen in the centre of the drawing. This is one of the very large 'roll' drawings done by both Hodges on the second voyage and Webber for the Admiralty and the only one in the NMM collection of this size.