FDA-D.404-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.404-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Westminster and St. James's Palace from the Fields of Mayfair
Pilkington
Westminster and St James's Palace from St James's Fields
Pilkington
Westminster and St James's Palace from St James's Fields
Title Type
Previous title
collection
Formal name
collection
Formal name
Comments
Born in the county of Durham, Place came to London to study law in 1665. The plague gave him an excuse to suspend his studies, and he returned to his family home. An inheritance allowed him to pursue the life of a gentleman amateur, having, as later recorded by George Vertue, 'a great inclination to drawing'. He lived near York and made frequent sketching expeditions around Britain, to France and, in 1698-99, to Ireland.
While in London, Place met Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), the leading printmaker and topographical draughtsman of his day; during a subsequent stay in the capital in 1666 or 1667, Hollar introduced Place to many fellow artists, publishers and printsellers. On Hollar's death, Place acquired his sketchbooks from his widow. It is possible that this drawing, a copy of a Hollar sketch datable to around 1660, was once in one of the sketchbooks. The original, now in the Royal Collection, is much smaller, consisting only of the narrow central strip depicting the buildings, but with the added key, which Place has transcribed literally. Place's copy was perhaps made at the end of the century, around the same time as his drawings of Ireland, which share the same spacious sky and lower area reserved for writing. By this time, the foreground area of St James's Fields was beginning to be covered in houses. Building in this part of London had been prevented by an order of Oliver Cromwell in 1656, but continued after the Restoration, when St Jaems's Park, seen here beyond Pall Mall as an equally featureless expanse of turf, was laid out with alleys and waterways.
This is a copy after Wenceslaus Hollar of a c.1660 drawing in the Royal Collection (Ref: RCIN 913264).
While in London, Place met Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), the leading printmaker and topographical draughtsman of his day; during a subsequent stay in the capital in 1666 or 1667, Hollar introduced Place to many fellow artists, publishers and printsellers. On Hollar's death, Place acquired his sketchbooks from his widow. It is possible that this drawing, a copy of a Hollar sketch datable to around 1660, was once in one of the sketchbooks. The original, now in the Royal Collection, is much smaller, consisting only of the narrow central strip depicting the buildings, but with the added key, which Place has transcribed literally. Place's copy was perhaps made at the end of the century, around the same time as his drawings of Ireland, which share the same spacious sky and lower area reserved for writing. By this time, the foreground area of St James's Fields was beginning to be covered in houses. Building in this part of London had been prevented by an order of Oliver Cromwell in 1656, but continued after the Restoration, when St Jaems's Park, seen here beyond Pall Mall as an equally featureless expanse of turf, was laid out with alleys and waterways.
This is a copy after Wenceslaus Hollar of a c.1660 drawing in the Royal Collection (Ref: RCIN 913264).
Other number
Pi 148
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 254mm
width (actual size): 403mm
width (actual size): 403mm
Inscription
Inscribed with numbers 1 to 5 on the drawing and with a key in the lower margin, `1. Westminster Abby [sic] 2. Westminster Hall 3. St James's Palace 4. Pall Mall 5. Conduit'
Materials & techniques note
Pen and grey ink, grey wash within the artist's black, white and grey wash border; watermark fleur-de-lys
Production
Person
Place, Francis, 1647 - 1728 (Artist)
Date
c. 1700
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of Alan Pilkington; by whom bequeathed to Eton College in 1973
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 17
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 17
Previous ownership
Pilkington, Alan, 1879 - 1973: Bequeathed to Eton by Alan Pilkington, 1973
References
• Wilcox, T., A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, Christie's exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 26), Catalogue number: 17
