Francis Fowke (1753–1819), of Boughrood Castle

Francis Fowke of Boughrood Castle in Radnorshire was a Welsh landowner whose portrait by Opie is now held at the Radnorshire Museum in Llandrindod Wells — a regional museum dedicated to the history of mid-Wales. The Boughrood estate on the River Wye was one of the more significant properties in Radnorshire, and a portrait by a painter of Opie's standing would have been a significant investment for a Welsh landowner operating at some distance from the metropolitan art market. Opie's portrait practice extended well beyond London to regional gentry throughout England and Wales, making him one of the most geographically wide-ranging portrait painters of his generation. The Radnorshire Museum's holding of this work preserves it within the community and landscape it documents.

Provincial gentry portraits by Opie show his established technique applied to subjects who expected solid likeness and dignified presentation rather than fashionable elaboration. The dark coat against a simple background is the standard formula, with the face receiving Opie's full sculptural attention. The format would be modest — probably three-quarter or half-length — appropriate to a rural landowner's commission.