Lot Essay
The Reverend John Cocks (1731-1793) was the third son and fifth child of John Cocks (d. 1771) and his wife Mary. He was educated at Merton College, Oxford, and was Rector of Suckleigh, Worcestershire and Prebendary of Bristol. He died unmarried in October 1793 at his house in Cavendish Square, London.
James Cocks (1734-1804), the fifth son and seventh child, worked as a banker with his younger brother Thomas and lived in Cleveland Row behind St. James's Palace. He married on 5 November 1772 Martha, daughter of Charles Watson, Vice-Admiral of the Red.
The sitters' father, John Cocks of Castleditch, had inherited extensive estates around Eastnor, Herefordshire upon the death of his nephew James Cocks in 1758. His elder brother, also James, had sat as MP for Reigate. Their father Charles, who had sat as MP for Droitwich in seven parliaments, married Mary, sister and co-heiress of Lord Somers the illustrious Lord High Chancellor and Attorney-General during the Restoration. John Cocks of Castleditch, the fourth generation of his family to live at Castleditch, married Mary his cousin by whom he had ten children. Their eldest son Charles (1725-1806) sat as MP for Reigate and chose the title of his ancestor when he was created Lord Somers in 1784.
The present picture was correctly re-attributed to Mortimer by Collins Baker (loc. cit.) in 1933 having been previously recorded and exhibited as the work of Zoffany. The blue and white upholstered chairs were fashionable in the 1760s and can be seen elsewhere in Mortimer's work, for example in the Group Portrait of George Thompson, his Wife and another Lady (Tate Gallery, London). Although the bare interior and chequered upholstery are typical of the date, the choice of a Boucher-style painting of Diana bathing in the background is unusual. The Cocks family were known collectors whose taste seems to have been towards the Flemish and Dutch Schools, for instance The Holy Family with Saints under an Apple Tree, by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, bought by the Cocks family perhaps in the 1760s and sold in these Rooms, 11 December 1992, lot 60, #380,000, and The Concert by Hendrick ter Brugghen, possibly part of the collection formed by Lord Chancellor Somers in the late seventeenth century and now in the National Gallery, London. A Portrait of the Reverend Philip Cocks, the sixth son, by Zoffany was sold in these Rooms, 22 November 1985, lot 81, #15,000. In addition Manners and Williamson (op. cit., p. 204) record a portrait by Zoffany of Joseph Cocks, the second son, wearing a blue velvet coat, reading.
James Cocks (1734-1804), the fifth son and seventh child, worked as a banker with his younger brother Thomas and lived in Cleveland Row behind St. James's Palace. He married on 5 November 1772 Martha, daughter of Charles Watson, Vice-Admiral of the Red.
The sitters' father, John Cocks of Castleditch, had inherited extensive estates around Eastnor, Herefordshire upon the death of his nephew James Cocks in 1758. His elder brother, also James, had sat as MP for Reigate. Their father Charles, who had sat as MP for Droitwich in seven parliaments, married Mary, sister and co-heiress of Lord Somers the illustrious Lord High Chancellor and Attorney-General during the Restoration. John Cocks of Castleditch, the fourth generation of his family to live at Castleditch, married Mary his cousin by whom he had ten children. Their eldest son Charles (1725-1806) sat as MP for Reigate and chose the title of his ancestor when he was created Lord Somers in 1784.
The present picture was correctly re-attributed to Mortimer by Collins Baker (loc. cit.) in 1933 having been previously recorded and exhibited as the work of Zoffany. The blue and white upholstered chairs were fashionable in the 1760s and can be seen elsewhere in Mortimer's work, for example in the Group Portrait of George Thompson, his Wife and another Lady (Tate Gallery, London). Although the bare interior and chequered upholstery are typical of the date, the choice of a Boucher-style painting of Diana bathing in the background is unusual. The Cocks family were known collectors whose taste seems to have been towards the Flemish and Dutch Schools, for instance The Holy Family with Saints under an Apple Tree, by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, bought by the Cocks family perhaps in the 1760s and sold in these Rooms, 11 December 1992, lot 60, #380,000, and The Concert by Hendrick ter Brugghen, possibly part of the collection formed by Lord Chancellor Somers in the late seventeenth century and now in the National Gallery, London. A Portrait of the Reverend Philip Cocks, the sixth son, by Zoffany was sold in these Rooms, 22 November 1985, lot 81, #15,000. In addition Manners and Williamson (op. cit., p. 204) record a portrait by Zoffany of Joseph Cocks, the second son, wearing a blue velvet coat, reading.