Christopher Cock (died 1748) was an eminent English auctioneer and picture restorer who lived and worked in London. His earliest known auction was in 1717. He operated from various premises in Soho until 1731, when he moved to the Great Piazza, Covent Garden. Cock was auctioneer of the properties and possessions of many well-known men of the time. He was married to Ann, but nothing more is known of his wife or any children; Cock died in 1748 and is buried at St Paul's, Covent Garden.
Christopher Cock was probably born in London in the 1690s, but this is not certain. It has been suggested that his father was John Cock (d. 1714), printseller and picture dealer in London; [1] no firm evidence has been found to substantiate this, although a Christopher Edward Cock, son of John and Mary was baptised at St Andrew Holborn, London on 30 September 1695. [2]
Cock died in December 1748, and was buried at St Paul's, Covent Garden on the 16th. The church registers record where he was interred, [3] but his memorial no longer exists.
George Vertue made the first mention of Cock as an auctioneer, [1] [4] noting his appearance in 1717. Cock's first newspaper advertisement was placed in 1722 for the sale by auction of “A Most Excellent Collection of Pictures by the Celebrated Italian and other Masters”; [5] thus began a successful career lasting some 30 years. [6] More of his newspaper advertisements, spanning over 20 years, are available online. [7]
Some 30 auction catalogues are also available, [8] demonstrating the range of Cock's clientele, which included John Bridges of Lincoln's Inn; Sir Robert Cotton, Postmaster General; Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington; Sir James Thornhill, late principal history painter to His Majesty; Edward, Earl of Oxford; Sir William Billers, Lord Mayor of London; Josiah Burchett, Esquire, late Secretary to the Admiralty and James, Duke of Chandos (twice). Well-known figures of the period would attend Cock's auctions, e.g. Joshua Reynolds and Alexander Pope at the Earl of Oxford sale on 9 March 1742. [9]
Records show that Cock charged a five per cent commission up to £40 or £50 and used a sliding scale thereafter. [10] His auctioneering methods were innovative. For example, as early as 1737 he advertised on his picture catalogues that "any Gentlemen that want the Prices mark’d in the Catalogues, Mr Cock has given his Servant leave to do it". [11] These estimates for paintings did not become a standard practice until 1973. [10]
In about 1731 Cock ordered from Hogarth a “conversation” of six people (later reduced to five). Sir Andrew Fountaine is shown standing, draped in a red cloak, looking down at a painting held by a deferential Cock. The painting (in the Philadelphia Museum of Art), and a copy of it, are described in more detail in Eisenberg's catalogue raisonnée. [12] This is the only known image of Christopher Cock.
Cock was satirised by Henry Fielding in his 1737 play The Historical Register in which Christopher Cock appears as Christopher Hen, played by Charlotte Clarke. [13] [14]
In 1747 Cock formed a partnership with Abraham Langford, who took over the business on Cock's death a year later. [15]
In his will, [16] Cock refers to his dear and loving wife Ann, but no record of their marriage has been found, nor of any children.
For the first part of his career, Christopher Cock lived in various locations in Broad Street (now Broadwick Street):
In 1731 he moved to No. 9–10, the Great Piazza, Covent Garden, where he remained until his death. [6] The previous occupant for 10 years had been the Hon. Edward Wortley Montagu. [17]
Behind the house Cock erected an auction room, which remained in use for over a hundred years: next by Abraham Langford and then, in 1790, by Henry Robins. [18] As well as auctions, Cock used his rooms to exhibit and sell paintings by leading artists, such as Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir James Thornhill and Peter Tillemans. [14] Christopher Cock's will also showed that part of his premises was leased to Allan Ramsay, the Scottish portrait painter, at a yearly rental of £63. He also held three shares in a newspaper, the Daily Advertiser. After his death, Cock's collection, including pictures, was sold by Langford in May 1749 on his former premises in the Great Piazza. [19]
Hogarth's 1745 etching The Battle of the Pictures was another satire involving Cock, whose auction house was nearby. It took the form of a bidder's ticket for an auction of paintings by Hogarth. Copies of old master paintings outside Cock's house are shown attacking paintings by Hogarth. [20]
William Hogarth was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects", and he is perhaps best known for his series A Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress and Marriage A-la-Mode. Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as "Hogarthian".
Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects working in the Italian baroque tradition. He was responsible for some large-scale schemes of murals, including the "Painted Hall" at the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, the paintings on the inside of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, and works at Chatsworth House and Wimpole Hall.
Josiah Burchett, of Hampstead, Middlesex, was a British naval administrator and Whig politician, who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1705 and 1741. He was Secretary of the Admiralty in England, a position he held for almost fifty years from 26 September 1694 to 14 October 1742. In addition to his administrative duties, he was the author of the first general history of the Royal Navy, published in 1720 and based on official Admiralty records.
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Jane Douglas, commonly known as Mother Douglas, was a brothel-keeper in mid-18th century London. Known at the time as "The Empress of the Bawds", her house in Covent Garden attracted customers from the higher echelons of society.
Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, styled Lord Harley between 1711 and 1724, was a British politician, bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was the nephew of Britain's First Minister between 1710 and 1714 Robert Harley.
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Daniel Wray was an English antiquary and Fellow of the Royal Society.
Abraham Langford (1711–1774) was an English auctioneer and playwright.
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