An inscription on the back of the drawing suggests that it is a design for a stage set for 'Black-eyed Susan', Douglas Jerrold's archetypal nautical melodrama of 1829. However, there was no scene in that play specified to be in a sail loft and while this could be a concept for a stage setting it is rather elaborately worked up for that. The most interesting thing about the large loft shown is that it is clearly made of ship timbers, with knees as brackets, a stair like a companion way and a set of stern-windows in the rear wall. It seems more likely that it is a a drawing in its own right, though whether for a loft that existed or one solely in the artist's imagination is unknown.William Roxby Beverley (?)Original size: 262 mm x 370 mm
