Oil on canvas, 59.7cm by 105.4cm. Signed l.l.: A.W. Fowles/RYDE 1877.
The Queen of Palmyra was one of several yachts owned, at various times, by William Alleyne, 3rd Marquess of Exeter (1825-1895).
He raced his sailing yachts at Cowes, where he was Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron and each year sailed to the South of France in the steam yacht Queen of Palmyra, where he would spend several weeks.
The artist was born in Ryde on the Isle of Wight.
He trained as a plumber, but had a natural talent for drawing and from 1851, and entirely self taught, he became a marine artist.
