The painting has a title written in ink, in 19th century hand according to the NLA, "Sesostris and Morley piloted through the Torres Straits by the little Britomart, Captn Stanley." There is also a note written in pencil, in 20th century hand according to NLA, "Sunset May 22/41 of Mt Cook".
An auction catalogue states that "HMS Britomart, 237 tons, was a 10-gun brig sloop built at Portsmouth in 1820. Between December 1837 and April 1843 Britomart was commanded by Captain Owen Stanley R.N.".
"The barque "Sesostris", 488 tons, was built at Hull in 1818 whilst the fully-rigged ship "Morley", 492 tons, was launched on the Thames in 1811. In the early 1840s, both vessels were engaged in the Australian trade and sailed out of Sydney and other Australian ports".
HMS Britomart leads the group and is sailing into the sunset.
The original painting in the National Library of Australia is reproduced here with their kind permission.
Click for a larger copy (112KB)
