Francis Place (artist)

Francis Place (1647 – 21 September 1728) was an English gentleman draughtsman, potter, engraver and printmaker, active mainly in York.

He was the fifth son of Rowland Place (1616–1680) of Dinsdale, county Durham, and his wife, Catherine (died 1670), 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.

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.