A mysterious maker named Edmund Joy created “Mr. Joy’s Surprise” – Queen Anne Child’s Wardrobe in the form of a House in 1709; this five-foot-high treasure, is one of just two known examples, the other one now residing in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The central door reveals a space for hanging coats and shirts; a left-hand door opens to show shelves covered in paper printed with a brickwork pattern; the right-hand door opens to reveal hand-painted drawers. While it might seem like a child’s toy, such a finely crafted object, with locks and keys, served only for adults.
The architecture of the piece, on offer from Thomas Coulborn & Sons of West Midlands, UK, resembles 17th-century Dutch homes, a style that influenced English builders as well. London’s Kew Palace (1631) is also known as the “Dutch house.” Though the maker confidently signed his name, nothing is known about him, say the curators at the V&A, though there is an Edmund Joy buried at Barton Turf church in Norfolk. He died a bachelor in 1744, aged 63.
The piece is priced €75,000 ($86,400).'