This is a view of Sydney, Australia, from the North Shore, looking into Sydney Cove with Circular Quay in the centre and Campbell's Wharf to the right. On the horizon on the left is Woolloomooloo, with the Botanical Gardens in the foreground and the residence of the late Lord Bishop of Sydney. According to the handwritten key provided by the donor, the buildings depicted are as follows. In the foreground on the left is Fort Macquarie with the military barracks beyond it. Overlooking Circular Quay, with the Union Jack flying, is Government House. From here, from left to right, the main buildings are the Prison, Sessions House, Treasury, Australian Library, St James's Church (with a small spire) and the Custom House. On the right, overlooking Campbell's Wharf, Old Philip's Church, the Flagstaff and Daw's Battery. 

Angela Burdett-Coutts, the heiress and philanthropist, described the painter as 'almost if not the first Artist of any talent who has carried his art to that distant part of The Queen's Empire ? he assured me in his Letter that the colouring is by no means exaggerated but faithfully Australasian'.

Signed and dated: M. Claxton / Sydney N.S.W. / 1853.The inscription on the back of the original canvas provided the name of the artist, the subject and the date, 1853.