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Oil on canvas, 91cm x 127cm
James was a minor artist who was engaged in a range of artistic activities in Liverpool - he was a drawing master, draughtsman, surveyor, teacher of French and art auctioneer and dealer. He moved to Manchester about 1815 and established a lithographic business, which was inherited and developed by his son.
This view of the Liverpool waterfront across the River Mersey from the Cheshire shore shows a busy and thriving scene. A variety of different shipping is depicted including fishing and ferry boats on the shore in the foreground, a revenue cutter at anchor in the middle distance to the right of centre and in the far distance are a 3-masted ship making its way up river, a man of war at anchor, and a group of other anchored vessels. A number of small boats, some carrying animals, ply their way through the shipping and a small early steam vessel is to the right of the anchored group of ships.
The viewpoint, from the common at Seacombe, allows a particularly detailed view of the Liverpool shore to be included. At the north end of the town a few warehouses are starting to appear alongside the windmills of this still rural area. The town itself can be seen with its rows of warehouses and the clearly visible domes of St Paul's and the Town Hall as well as the tower of St Nicholas, the Goree Warehouses and the spire of St George. To the south the still mainly rural areas along the Toxteth shore stretching down towards Garston are evident.