Francis Place

Who was Francis Place?

Francis Place was an English gentleman draughtsman, potter, engraver and printmaker, active mainly in York.

He was the fifth son of Rowland Place of Dinsdale, county Durham, and his wife, Catherine, daughter and coheiress of Charles Wise of Copgrove, Yorkshire.

Place entered law as his father had done, and was articled to an attorney at Gray's Inn until the outbreak of the plague forced him to leave both the profession and London in 1665. By this time, Place had already discovered a gift for drawing and engraving through his close friend Wenceslaus Hollar.

About 1680 Place's interests and activities widened further as he became involved with the antiquarian group the York virtuosi, where he eventually settled. Place became a friend of many artists and antiquarians in and around York, including Ralph Thoresby and William Lodge, with whom Place went on many drawing and angling excursions.

As a result of the Popish Plot, during one trip to Wales, Place and Lodge found themselves imprisoned as suspected Jesuit spies.

Place's virtuosity and enthusiasm led him to experiment with oil painting from 1680, stoneware pottery glazing, and the manufacture of porcelain from 1683, which he abandoned in 1694 owing to his lack of commercial success. Only four of his marbled greyware pots are known to have survived, one of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.