This painting was likely based on the widely circulated print To Donald McKay, Esq, Builder of the Magnificent Clipper Ship Sovereign of the Seas, first published by Nathaniel Currier in 1852.

McKay (1810-1880) was a Canadian-born American ship-builder famous for the record-setting speeds achieved by his extreme clippers. Among these vessels was the Sovereign of Seas, built by McKay in New York and launched in 1852. At the time of her construction, the Sovereign was the fastest sailing ship ever built. However, in an untimely turn of events, she was wrecked in the Malacca Straits in 1859.