Untitled [Auxiliary steam ship]

Joseph Fowles (1810 - 1878) was a well-known artist and art teacher in Sydney from the 1840s until his death in 1878. He came to Sydney as a ship's surgeon in 1838 with claims already to a reputation as a marine painter. His diary and sketches of his voyage are held in the State Library of NSW. As well as marine works, he painted landscapes and was celebrated as a painter of racehorses. He is best known today for his fine architectural sketches, published in parts between 1848 and 1850 as 'Sydney in 1848', depicting the buildings of Sydney's main streets.

The ship depicted in Farm Cove is almost certainly a government vessel. It is not a naval vessel and is flying a red ensign (flown by merchant shipping), but it also flies a white flag with a design including an emu and a kangaroo, suggesting an official capacity.