Joseph Fowles arrived in Sydney in 1838. Despite criticism of his style, he established a local reputation as a leading Sydney marine and animal artist, specialising in ship paintings and racehorse portraits. He was also a farmer, art teacher and publisher, best known for his detailed engravings of Sydney’s major streets, which were compiled into a successful book Sydney in 1848. This diverse practice was typical for colonial artists.

A mountain inn is probably intended as a record of a ‘typical’ Australian scene —bullocks rest, a bushman gives his horse a drink, a coach disappears into the distance and an Aboriginal family approaches the inn. This may be the painting Roadside Inn, Australian, which was exhibited in Sydney in 1869.