London Art Week - Winter 2024: ‘Mr. Joy’s Surprise’

Thomas Coulborn and Sons is delighted to present a single, outstanding exhibit for London Art Week, Winter 2024.

‘Mr. Joy’s Surprise’ is a Queen Anne child’s wardrobe in the form of a Dutch-gabled house and is a unique and important example of early eighteenth-century furniture.

Made in England, it is boldly signed ‘Edmund Joy’ to the back and side panel and is dated 1709. Such a piece would have been made for the children of a wealthy family – a very rare example of furniture made at this time specifically for storing children’s clothes.

The wardrobe was first described as Mr. Joy’s Surprise by Vivien Green, English Dolls' Houses of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, although it was never intended to be used as a dolls’ house.

This wardrobe predates the only known comparable example, also signed ‘Edmund Joy’ and dated 1712, which is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (no. W.36-1930).

The provenance of the wardrobe is also notable, having been owned in the 1950s by Eden Minns, a designer for Gordon Russell. It then had several owners in the UK before being bought by a private buyer in the USA.

Jonathan Coulborn said: “We are excited to be exhibiting this charming and unusual example of British Folk Art furniture in the UK for London Art Week. Its architectural style echoes 17th century Dutch domestic architecture which influenced houses in England, particularly in London and the south east of England. Kew Palace, known as the ‘Dutch House’ is a prominent example of this style, which was built in 1631. Although much about the maker remains a mystery, the grave of a man named Edmund Joy, who died in 1744, can be found in Barton Turf church, Norfolk.”