TWO exhibition quality paintings by celebrated South West artist are among some of the highlights at a Tavistock gallery.

Philip Mitchell's watercolours (1814 to 1896) are now on display in Elford Fine Art's Christmas exhibition and sale, at the gallery in Drake Road, Tavistock.

The watercolours depict the Navigation Canal on the River Tamar near Gunnislake more than 150 years ago. Mitchell's view upriver, from the Cornwall bank of the Tamar, shows the small island which was created between the new canal and the river itself. Looking downriver, it has a bird's eye view from the steep, granite rocks high up on the Devon side of the Tamar.

The picture is rich in historical content, and its scale, combined with Philip Mitchell's attention to detail, creates a compelling record of how this part of the Tamar Valley looked in the mid-19th century.

Elford Fine Art's three-week exhibition offers a new selection of period and contemporary oils and watercolours spanning three centuries.

The display includes a collection of works by Frederick John Widgery (1861-1942), and among the marine paintings is an oil by the eminent Plymouth artist Nicholas Matthew Condy (1816-1851), dated 1840.

The exhibition is open now at The Gallery, Tavistock, and continues until December 21.