This one of the last paintings Piper made in an abstract style, and is also one of his largest works. The painting clearly refers to the cubist compositions of Braque and Picasso, and is closely related to a mural Piper did for a friend's flat in Highgate, London, in 1938. The abstracted motifs represented in this picture are a bottle and a stringed instrument. The reference to the sea in the painting's title suggests that it may have originated as a seascape.