A copperplate engraving from the book titled, 'Plan de plusieurs b̢timens de mer avec leurs proportions dedi̩ �� Son Altesse Serenissime Monseigneur Louis Auguste de Bourbon' (Marseille: c. 1720) by the French Captain Henri Sbonski de Passebon. The book was a collection of naval architecture prints. This print is a port side view portrait of a bruslot ship taking a depth or sound reading. A bruslot was a type of naval ship designed to combust and set fire to nearby vessels. The print is often incorrectly listed as 'Bruslot a la fonde,' which would translate to a very different meaning: "Bruslot to the bottom." Sailors in the small rowboat chained to the bruslot are presumably conducting the depth sounding, or the act of measuring depth, using a lead line.
There is a watermark of a sun with a face, visible on the verso of the center left side of the print.
