Description

View of a floating dock, with a shoreline at right and in the background, and a ship atop the dock. The ship is ablaze, with clouds of smoke rising up and blowing to the left. Men on the dock and on the shore at left are handling a long hose, perhaps in an attempt to put out the blaze. The fire is likely from a breaming process--cleaning out the hull with a controlled fire.

In background at right, the church tower of St. Mary the Virgin, the parish church. Title and production information in lower margin. The artist monogram, "LF", appear on the side of the ship.

Rotherhithe was a locality south-east of London whose main trade was in shipbuilding and repair.