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拍品專文
General John Hartwell Cocke (1780-1866) was a close confidant and colleague of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), and followed Jefferson's penchant for the Palladian style of architecture in the building of Bremo Plantation, Cocke's Fluvanna County estate. Originally, Cocke asked Jefferson to serve as the architect for Bremo, but having just sold his library to the nation, Jefferson felt the absence of his reference books would put him at a disadvantage in fulfilling the commission. Rather, Jefferson offered guidance with the statement, "let Palladio be your Bible" and suggested to Cocke that he enlist the services of Monticello builders (Hugh Howard, Thomas Jefferson, Architect: The Built Legacy of Our Third President (New York, 2003), pp. 172-173).
A Virginia planter, Cocke was lauded as a reformer, statesman and devout Christian. He played important roles in the founding of the James River and Canada Company and the establishment of the University of Virginia. A member of the American Colonization Society, Cocke was a vehement advocate for ending slavery and strong supporter for abolishing alcohol, serving as President of the Virginia Temperance Society in 1834 and President of the United States Temperance Union in 1836.
It is known that Cocke purchased several items from the Monticello Dispersal Sale in 1827, including two walnut side chairs, a Benjamin Ferris tall-case clock, and possibly a micrometer and surveying compass (Susan Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello (New York, 1993), pp. 278, 352, 379, figs. 136, 211, 237). Among the pieces Cocke may have also acquired at this time is this pair of knife boxes, which may be the "two old knife boxes" in the 1826 inventory of Monticello (Thomas Jefferson Papers, The Massachusetts Historical Society). A century later, these boxes were sold as "a pair of inlaid knife boxes," in the November 1926 sale at Bremo Plantation of the Estates of Mary B. Cocke and Lelia B. Cocke, descendants of John H. Cocke.
A Virginia planter, Cocke was lauded as a reformer, statesman and devout Christian. He played important roles in the founding of the James River and Canada Company and the establishment of the University of Virginia. A member of the American Colonization Society, Cocke was a vehement advocate for ending slavery and strong supporter for abolishing alcohol, serving as President of the Virginia Temperance Society in 1834 and President of the United States Temperance Union in 1836.
It is known that Cocke purchased several items from the Monticello Dispersal Sale in 1827, including two walnut side chairs, a Benjamin Ferris tall-case clock, and possibly a micrometer and surveying compass (Susan Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello (New York, 1993), pp. 278, 352, 379, figs. 136, 211, 237). Among the pieces Cocke may have also acquired at this time is this pair of knife boxes, which may be the "two old knife boxes" in the 1826 inventory of Monticello (Thomas Jefferson Papers, The Massachusetts Historical Society). A century later, these boxes were sold as "a pair of inlaid knife boxes," in the November 1926 sale at Bremo Plantation of the Estates of Mary B. Cocke and Lelia B. Cocke, descendants of John H. Cocke.