Length of glazed cotton roller printed with red depicting the Bombardment of Algiers, 27 August 1816. The scene shows British ships and boats from the combined Anglo-Dutch fleet, commanded by Edward Pellew, in the foreground with the city wreathed in smoke and flashes of light from exploding bombs.
In the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century, roller-printed cottons were one of Britain's great exports. These could be cheaply manufactured and commemorative themes were extremely popular.