Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827)

Watercolour over pencil, 8 1/4 x 11 in (21 x 28 cm), Signed. Provenance: Mrs Buckley, Ledger Galleries 1972.

Vessels of the size depicted here were the only ones, with their shallow draught, able to reach the quay at Exeter. Larger vessels docked at Topsham, to the South. The view across to the opposite side, where the Customs House was situated, (away to the left and out of the picture), has been foreshortened in the interests of the composition. Rowlandson presents a lively scene, with vessels drawn up by the quayside, and packhorses waiting patiently to carry goods up to the City. The steps in front of the houses straggling up the hill are still there, and were in the 18th century the only way down to the quayside from the plateau on which the bulk of Exeter sits.