This drawing is part of a now-dismembered sketchbook used by Calame in July and August of 1858. The drawings from this sketchbook, all on sheets of blue paper, are devoted to views and sites along the Italian and French Riviera, from Bordighera on the northwest coast of Italy westwards along the corniche to Menton, Villefranche and the island of Saint-Honorat, near Cannes. Unique among Calame’s sketchbooks in being devoted solely to coastal views, with the vibrant blue of the paper used to depict sea and sky, the drawings bear numbers up to 35, although only nineteen sheets are known today. Twelve of the drawings depict views in or near the Italian coastal town of Bordighera, a resort popular with English visitors and famous for its many palm trees. To judge from the dates inscribed on these drawings, Calame seems to have spent most of the month of July 1858 in the town. The present sheet is a particularly fine example of Calame’s draughtsmanship, and was one of four drawings from the sketchbook drawn on the same day, the 27th of July, 1858.The present sheet was among the drawings that Calame retained in his studio until his death, and remained in the possession of his descendants for many years afterward.