William Lionel Wyllie, R.A. (1851-1931)

William Lionel Wyllie studied at Heatherley's Art School and then joined the Royal Academy schools in 1865. Best known as an accomplished marine artist, his painting of the Thames at Greenwich, Toil, Glitter, Grime and Wealth on a Flowing Tide was purchased for the Chantrey Bequest in 1883, and is now in Tate Britain.

In 1889, the year that it is thought the present lot was executed, Wyllie was elected A.R.A., by which time he had a house at Rochester and was predominantly painting subjects of the lower Thames and Medway, spending much time on his yacht Ladybird.