In November 1876, Alfred Wallis’s grief over the loss of his son would have been compounded by reports in the newspapers about his friends on the ship that left Batteau the day before his:

“The Recruit sailed from Batteo [sic], Labrador, the 8th of October, with a cargo of cod-fish &c, for Teignmouth. She was manned by a crew of 4, all told…and has not since been heard of.”

Their loss touched Wallis deeply, and he would speak of it often in later life. The fearful prospect of being lost at sea also found expression in his paintings, which show a constant concern for the safe passage of ships and boats of all kinds.

Wallis filled his compositions with navigational aids, including lighthouses, lightships, buoys, beacons, pilot boats, familiar headlands, and the welcoming embrace of a harbour’s entrance.

In this painting, Wallis has incorporated several of those features, including an unmistakable lightship at the top right.