John Cleveley was a leading maritime painter of the eighteenth century, known for his historically important records of ship building and launches at Deptford, naval engagements and fleet reviews. Born in Southwark, he was the son of a joiner and in his early teenage years apprenticed as a joiner and to a Deptford-based shipwright John Hall. In 1743 he became a freeman of the Shipwrights’ Company and began a career as a shipwright in the Royal Dockyard, Deptford. This provided him with the deep understanding and knowledge of ships translated in his painting and whilst little is known about his artistic training, it is thought he could have been taught to paint by ship painters based in the dockyard. He exhibited at the Free Society of Artists in London as well as at the Royal Academy from 1770. Despite his talent and success as a painter, it appears he remained attached to the dockyard. The year after his death in 1778, he is mentioned in an administration order as a ‘carpenter, belonging to His Majesty’s ship Victory (later of Nelson fame) in the pay of His Mjs Navy’. Two of his three sons, John Cleveley the Younger and his twin brother, Robert Cleveley also became painters after working in Deptford's Royal Dockyard. Examples by Cleveley can be found in various notable collections, including the National Maritime Museum and Yale Center for British Art. His painting Deptford Shipyard, London (1755) sold for $300,000 (hammer) at Sotheby’s New York on 1st February, 2018, lot 74.