File:Landing at Dover from the Steam Packet RMG BHC1791.tiff

A large painting, unusual in its use of figures, subject matter and style, showing the disembarkation of cross-Channel steam-packet passengers from Calais to Dover, and their investigation by Customs men for contraband. Dover Castle dominates the hill in the background on the left, with the white cliffs and the sea on the right.

On the jetty in the foreground a varied group is arranged horizontally. Viewed from left to right, they form a rhythmic pattern. On the far left of the picture are two men, one in light clothes has a sailor's earring and stands with his back to the viewer. The other, in a brown coat has his hand on the sailor's shoulder and lifts up the latter's top-hat, apparently with lace falling from it. Kneeling in front, on the pier, is a man with his back to the viewer. He wears a top-hat and buff waistcoat and holds up a bottle in his left hand. Immediately behind him a man half hidden and wearing a brown travelling coat peers inappropriately towards a woman on the right. She is dressed in brown and wears a large brown floral hat and holds a fan. Apparently embarrassed, she looks over the fan towards the kneeling man holding the bottle. On the ground beside the kneeling figure is a basket with scarves and lace, spilling out to drape over a broken spar with a piece of sail and a block attached.

Next, in the foreground, stands a man wearing a short blue jacket with brass buttons, white duck trousers and a red knitted cap. He holds out his hands, palms up, towards the man on the right. This curious figure wears a long brown buttoned-up coat, shiny black riding boots and a red scarf tied over his hat (probably to keep it on at sea). He holds a top-hat box in his left hand, a lap-dog tucked in the crook of that arm and a red tapestry carpet-bag and green umbrella over the same arm. In his right hand he holds up a heavy walking cudgel in an angry gesture. Immediately behind him are two bare-headed men, and the one in a dark jacket holds out a paper slightly menacingly for him to read. This group forms the principal focus of the picture, implying (as does his dress) that the man in the red cap is a Customs official requiring the unwilling passenger to open his bags. To the right of the latter, is a woman in wearing a fine white silk dress - presumably his wife or other relative since her right hand is linked under his arm next to the lap-dog. She is posed in a gesture of alarm. The plume of white feathers in her large hat apes the appearance of the dog and she has a gold silk shawl draped over her arms. She also wears white gloves and pointed shoes and although she is richly dressed the artist implies that she is less of a lady than she looks. To underscore this she has been placed immediately in front of a man with a bandaged or scarved head, and a sea-sick look, together with two other men with odd appearances.

To the right of the silk-clad figure is a large woman in an outsize hat festooned with flowers, with her hand raised with an open palm in a theatrical gesture of surprise. In front of her and seated to the right is a man wearing a light brown coat, a black cap and a mournful expression. He points with his left hand towards a basket on the ground in front of him. This is overflowing with small pumps and scarves in fine materials. Seated next to him is a tough-looking, balding man wearing a dark brown jacket and a high collar. He is seated on a trunk, wears a gold earring in his left ear, holds a peaked cap in his left hand and a lighted cigar in his right. His appearance suggests he is the master of the steam packet and his gesture and expression manifest a combination of surprise and anger. Standing a little way to his right a man with his sleeves rolled up is hauling a large bale of cargo. A basket rests on the ground next to him with a blue inscription on its painted label. This is no longer legible but may have begun 'M. S�' or 'Mr S�', possibly an artist's signature. In the distance on the right a sailor holds on to a mooring rope thrown to him by another standing in the stern of the packet.

The upper parts of the steam packet have been loosely painted in port view in the middle distance, behind the principal group of figures, with the red ensign prominently positioned on the stern. A female figure, apparently supported by a sailor, is shown leaning over the side suffering the final effects of a lively Channel crossing. This is suggested by the brisk waves and the blowing hair of the figure at the stern of the packet. There is a carriage on the deck, whose open door reveals passengers preparing to alight. The face of a woman can be seen preparing to descend and a man holds the door open to help her. The transport of private carriages on steam packets from Dover and London to France began in the mid-1820s and this is a rare image alluding to it. Onward travel in Europe used the well-developed continental post-horse system.

Although the composition is concerned with the display of various wares - lace, silks and bottles presumably containing spirits - no figure in the painting meets the gaze of any other. Only the dog looks directly out of the picture and confronts the viewer's eye. Communication is conveyed by interlocking hands and dramatic hand gestures, and commentary takes place through the varied use of footwear and of hats to identify nuances of social ordering. Most of the characters have similar facial expressions and emphasize the underlying tension within the composition. This is not surprising, given that what appears to be shown is the 'rummaging' of passengers from France for smuggled goods by men of the Customs service, although exactly how many are involved is not clear. They appear to include the figure holding up the top-hat with lace inside on the far left, the kneeling top-hatted man holding up the bottle nearby and the blue-jacketed man in dispute with the passenger carrying the dog. The figure showing a paper to the latter may be another, pointing out the regulations. The nature of the dialogue between the silk-dressed woman and the seated figures to the right is less explicit.

The composition is oddly proportioned, with intrusive verticals of masts and funnels, and horizontals of sails and flags dissecting the space and intentionally destabilizing the effect. The golden glow of Dover Castle is unsettling and the background is unconvincing, resembling a tableau backdrop. However, the artist has intentionally located the composition in England, proclaimed by the inclusion of the castle, red ensign and the white cliffs. The painting may have a commentary about France embedded within it, possibly the fact that people of genteel pretensions but financially embarrassed often escaped pursuing creditors by temporary escape to Calais or Boulogne. An alternative interpretation of the paper being presented to the man carrying the dog might be that it is an unpaid bill.

The painting bears an inscription or false signature, 'David Wilkie', along the lower left edge but this is neither a convincing attribution nor is Wilkie known to have painted the subject. A recent suggestion (2003) is that the artist was Michael Sharp and the painting one that he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1826 as 'The arrival of the Calais steam Packet in Dover Harbour; the Custom House officer [sic] searching the passengers'.

Sharp was born in London, was a pupil of Sir William Beechey and studied at the Royal Academy schools. From 1813 to 1820 he worked in Norwich, being a close friend of John Crome and godfather to one of his children. A popular portrait and subject painter, he exhibited at the Academy from 1801 to 1828 (except 1806 and 1816) and again in 1836. He also showed work regularly from 1806 to 1830 at the British Institution, where in 1808 he won a 50-guinea premium in the 'Familiar Life' category for a picture called 'The Music Master' (exh.1809). According to Samuel Redgrave, 'His art, which had a tendency to vulgarity, was well known by his engraved works'. While of considerable subject interest, this painting rather supports that view but whether it was engraved is not yet known. Sharp himself died in Boulogne.