Francis Place (1647-1728), Peterborough House and the Strand as they appeared from Millbank, black chalk, pen and ink and watercolour, 1683

Watercolour drawing

Provenance
Much of Place’s work has been preserved by his descendants. He left his collection, which included his own work and many works by Wenceslaus Hollar he had bought from Hollar’s widow, to his second wife who kept the collection mainly intact. After her death, the collection was divided between her two daughters Ann and Frances, though most was inherited by Ann (1696-1773) who married Stonier Parrott. The collection then came into possession of her third son Francis (1725-95) who left it to his daughter Elisabeth after his death. From the marriage with Johan Fraser, her daughter Elisabeth inherited the art works. When she died in 1873, her second husband Patrick Allen, but who had adopted the name Fraser, kept the collection and founded the Art College at Arbroath, where the collection found a new home. However the trustees later sold the collection and so most drawings by Francis Place that became dispersed among museums and collectors, derive from the ‘Fraser sale’ by Sotheby’s on June 10 1931 as does E.1507-1931 (lot 132) (Tyler 1971, 35).

Historical significance
Place's career began in the mid 1660s when he first met Wenceslaus Hollar in London. Though never a student of Hollar (this fact is known from a correspondence between Place and Vertue), he is 'the nearest approach to a direct follower' (Godfrey 1994, 152). The subject and style of his early topographical work indeed show a great influence of Hollar. The figure compositions are very often direct reproductions of Hollar's or other artists' work, while the landscape compositions are mostly his own. After 1680 his drawings develop towards a more personal style, using hatching more constructively and wash increasingly. E.1507-1931 actually dates from this period as the drawing bears the date 1683.

The finished drawing 'Peterborough House and Lambeth from Millbank' (E.1507-1931) is based on two sketches (E.1508-1931 and E.1509-1931) that most probably derive from the same sketchbook. This panoramic view is described as one of his most original ones (Godfrey 1994, 155) though the influence of Hollar on composition and detail is most evident in comparison to some of Hollar's etchings of views of London (reproduced in Hind 1922, for instance pl. XLIII). Frequently, Hollar adds two conversing men to the foreground, which acts as an initial anchoring point for the viewer whose attention is subsequently attracted by the buildings the couple is pointing to. Studies for the two foreground figures of E.1507-1931 appear on a sheet in an American private collection (Stainton and White 1987, 190). The viewpoint in E.1507-1931 is just across the river, with Lambeth on the right side. The large building on the left side of the bank is Peterborough House, which was demolished in 1809 to be replaced by the Millbank Penitentiary (Stainton and White 1987, 190). To the left of Peterborough House one can see Westminster Abbey before the addition of the Hawksmoor's towers in 1735-9.

References

Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove. Francis Place, 1647 – 1728: A changing vision of nature: some recently discovered drawings form Hospitalfield House, Arbroath. Glasgow: Glasgow Museums & Art Galleries, 1990.

Godfrey, Richard T. Wenceslaus Hollar: A bohemian Artist in England.London, New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 1994.

Hind, A. Hollar and his views of London and Windsor in the 17th century.London: John Lane, 1922.

Sloan, Kim. ’A Noble Art’ – Amateur Artists and Drawing Masters c. 1600-1800.London: British Museum, 2000.

Stainton, L. and White, C. Drawing in England from Hilliard to Hogarth. London: British Museum Publications, 1987.

Tyler, Richard. Francis Place (1647-1728): An exhibition representing all aspects of his work.York: City Art Gallery, 1971, no. 133.

As an amateur draughtsman, Francis Place (1647-1728) is very much representative of the changed status of the practice of drawing in the middle of the 17th century. Born into a Yorkshire family of landed gentry, he belongs to the growing number of men from a broad spectrum of society who practiced drawing for personal amusement and leisure (Sloan 2000, 11). Although Place produced some commercial prints in his early career, he was financially independent and executed most of his work in the pursuit of his own interest. He was also a leading member of the York Virtuosi, an informal society of scholars who shared an interest in art, craft and natural sciences. Francis Place's interest for the technical advancements of his age is also reflected in his experiments in pottery glazing and the mezzotint, which was fairly new at that time and in which he became a pioneer (Tyler 1971). Still, he is best known for his topographical studies, in which he combined his interest in exact observation and the aesthetics of landscape. Richard Tyler moreover puts Place at the beginning of the English tradition of landscape drawing and painting (Tyler 1971, 21).

As an amateur draughtsman, Francis Place (1647-1728) stands at the head of a growing artistic interest in landscape in England in the 17th century. Being financially independent most of his life, he was rather drawing for his leisure and amusement. He also travelled widely in Britain and was the first English artist to record hikes to old castles in Wales and Ireland. This drawing shows a panoramic view of Peterborough House and Lambeth on the right side of the river. In the forefront two figures are conversing, probably about the landscape and the view, and draw our attention to Peterborough House. Behind on the left of the house, one can see Westminster Abbey before the addition of the towers in the late 1730s. The drawing is based upon two sketches also in the V&A collection.

E.1507-1931