b"134131 W.H. ROCKE & CO.Australian cedar, two-drawer writing table with insert leatherette top, circa 1880,oval brass maker's plaqueW.H. ROCKE & Co. MELBOURNE,80cm high, 138cm wide, 77cm deepW.H. Rocke & Co. was colonial VictoriasRocke, Geo & Wm. Henry, Furniture largest, most successful and profitabledealers and Importers, 12 Lonsdale Street furniture manufacturer and importer; byEast. From the beginning, George and 1870, the company had a workforce ofhis son, William, set about positioning 150. At the 1880 Melbourne Internationalthemselves as the purveyors of choice for Exhibition, about the time that this deskthose seeking the best in decorative finery. was made, Rocke & Co. dominatedExamples of their furniture are held in the Victorias display on the Avenue of Nations. Museum Victoria collection.The first listing for the Rockes business is$2,5003,500in the 1859 Sands & McDougall Directory: 131"