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Oil on canvas, 68.2cm x 100cm
Accession number MMM1964.227.2
This fine example of Jenkinson's work shows an armed vessel departing from the Mersey with a view of the Wirral coastline in the background. The vessel is shown in a starboard profile from the leeward side with all her sails, except the main course, set. She is rigged as a snow and the leeward view provides a very clear depiction of the small auxiliary mast which supports the aft sail. The hats of approximately 40 members of the crew are visible along the length of the vessel and there are two standing figures. One of these at the stern is presumably the master who has removed his hat as a gesture of farewell to the small boat which has just pulled away.
The vessel has a female figurehead and fourteen guns but this is insufficient to allow identification. She is mostly likely to be a merchantman and may have been built as a guineaman or slave ship.
The view in the background shows the Wirral coastline with the entrance to the former Wallasey Pool behind the stern of the main vessel. To the left of this, on the hillside in the distance, is the Bidston Lighthouse and signal station. To the right is a wooded area north of Seacombe with a number of large residences overlooking the river.
Despite the fact that Jenkinson is an important Liverpool artist very little is known about his career. He is listed as a 'marine and portrait artist' from 1816 to 1821 in the Liverpool directories and works by him were shown at the Liverpool Academy between 1810 and 1814. Many of his works are not signed or the signature is hidden. His work has frequently been attributed to Robert Salmon.
This painting is currently on display in the International Slavery Museum, on the third floor of the Merseyside Maritime Museum building.