A view looking south towards the Point Lonsdale lighthouse and Bass Strait. This entrance is the only access to Port Phillip Bay and the Port of Melbourne. A clipper ship has entered the bay, a paddlewheel tug preceding her up the bay and a pair of net fishing boats in the foreground.
The artist, John Skinner Prout (1805-1876) arrived in Tasmania from Sydney in 1844 after emigrating from Britain in 1840 with his family. He was an established professional artist with his own lithographic press. Mainly a water-colourist and lithographer, he is regarded as one of the finest colonial artists of the period.
1874.
Steel engraving.
Later hand-colouring.
125 x 175 mm. Image size.
Good condition.