That he has remained unknown and generally unrecognized until very recently, is due to his unsigned paintings being readily attributed to one or other of his well known Liverpool contemporaries, such as Duncan McFarlane or John Hughes.

Hustwick would probably have remained unrecognised had he not consistently introduced an easily overlooked 'trade mark'; a distinctive British flag that was fifty years out of date (see page 2 and also notice the ensign on the detail opposite). Encountering this unmistakable rebus or 'tag' on a large series of unsigned 'Liverpool' ship paintings of British ships eventually confirmed its regular association with a style sufficiently distinct to recognize the existence of an unknown Liverpool ship painter on this basis alone, ignoring the distinctive outdated British flag.