From battlefield to brushstroke

JO CLARKE LOOKS AT THE LIFE OF CORNISH ARTIST NICHOLAS CONDY

- Jo Clarke is marketing and communications officer at The Box. Many thanks to the collections team at The Box

THIS small but beautiful oil painting is by a locally born artist named Nicholas Condy (1793-1857). It's titled 'The Fish Market, Plymouth' and can be seen on display in The Box's 'Port of Plymouth' gallery in a section that explores the city's links with the fishing industry. It was purchased for the permanent art collection in 1965.

Condy was a Cornishman. It’s believed he was born in Torpoint, and records show that he was baptised in the small village of Withiel, near Bodmin. His parents were Cornish too. His father, who was also called Nicholas, came from the fishing village of Mevagissey. He and wife Elizabeth's marriage record is dates from 1790 in Withiel.