Both son and pupil of the prolific maritime painter Dominic Serres (1722-1793), J.T. Serres’s career was given a head start owing to his father’s artistic connections, enabling him to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy between 1780 and 1825. His reputation for draughtsmanship was rewarded with the appointment of Master of Drawing at the Royal Naval College in Chelsea. Further recognition followed as he replaced his father as Marine Painter to the King, while in 1800 he became Marine Draughtsman to the Admiralty. Serres was soon travelling by sea throughout the expanding empire, particularly the Mediterranean, recording coastlines and documenting enemy positions. A selection of these works were later illustrated in the publication ‘The Little Sea Torch’ (1801).