This seascape and A Calm were not created as a pair, but had become one before they were acquired by George IV. Both depict a profusion of shipping, of all types and sizes, at anchor in the inland sea, conveying the scale of the Dutch maritime enterprise. Both describe a multiplicity of men and technology within a unity of light and atmosphere, of sky reflected in the mirror of the sea.

Acquired by George IV in 1814, when Prince Regent, from the Baring Collection