4008

England, 1709

RARE AND IMPORTANT CHILD'S WARDROBE

In the form of a Late 17th Century-style manor. Central façade opens to reveal pegs for hanging clothes. The left side opens to shelves covered in paper simulating bricks. Right side opens to several small drawers with hand-painted fronts. Boldly signed and dated verso "Edmund Joy 1709". There is only one other known wardrobe of this type, also by Joy but dated 1712, which is in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

According to the Museum's description of the 1712 example, "This was an unusual and probably expensive piece of furniture for a lucky child. Resembling a late seventeenth century house from the outside, the doors swing open to reveal shelves, drawers, and pegs for hanging clothes […] On the side of the wardrobe is a large signature and date: Edmund Joy, 1712. This is probably the maker, though nothing is known of this proud craftsman who so confidently signed his work."

The museum also writes, "Our familiarity with wardrobes perhaps obscures how recent this piece of furniture is. In the early 18th century, clothes and linen were usually folded and stored flat in chests or ‘clothes presses'. These were generally low, with sliding shelves, and they could be beautiful and ornately decorated. Clothes, when hung at all, were hooked onto pegs. [...] The word ‘wardrobe' in the 1710s referred not to a piece of furniture, but to a room or building where clothes were kept locked away. ‘Ward' is an Old English word meaning ‘to keep guard, protect, preserve'. With its lockable doors, blind windows and imposing façade, the Joy Wardrobe would certainly have fulfilled this duty, even if it wasn't called a wardrobe.

"Representing a whole house, but at the scale of a clothes press, the Joy Wardrobe anticipates the widespread use of movable furniture for hanging clothes. It wasn't just kings and courtiers who wanted to keep their fancy outfits in guarded buildings – but for the middling sort, the buildings didn't need to be so big! It wasn't until 1794 that designs for "wardrobes" as we know them appear in furniture catalogues."

The wardrobe offered here is included in English Dolls' Houses of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Vivien Green (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1955), p. 99-100, no. 58. Greene called it "Mr Joy's Surprise", and, unaware of the Victoria & Albert Museum's example, described it as "a thing singular, unparalleled, a nonesuch".

At the time of the book's publication, the wardrobe was owned by Eden Minns, a designer for Gordon Russell who worked on the Utility Furniture project in the 1940s. Having won the gold medal for its "Paris Cabinet" at the 1925 Paris International Exhibition and its "Boot Cupboard" highlighted for its importance to British design, Gordon Russell and its designers were at the forefront of European furniture making. It is a fitting nod to the innovative nature of this wardrobe for its time that a designer of such strict functional forms and clean-lined furniture would have a piece of this decorative nature in his home.

The style of both this and the 1712 Joy wardrobe bear a considerable resemblance to Kew Palace in west London, a building also known as "The Dutch House", which dates back to the 17th Century. The scrolled, hipped roofs suggest Dutch influence and a date around the 1680s, rather than the smart, crisp architecture of Queen Anne's reign (1702-1714).
Height 66". Width 57". Depth 26".
Condition: The absence of a condition report does not imply an object is free of defects. All items may have normal signs of age and wear commensurate with their age; these issues will likely not be mentioned in the condition report. Please contact Eldred's before the auction with any condition questions. Questions about condition will not be answered after purchase. Condition reports are provided as a courtesy, and we are not responsible for any errors or omissions. Important note on frames: Frames are not guaranteed to be in the same condition as they are in the item photograph. Due to handling and shipping, many frames, especially antique ones, are prone to losses. If you have questions about the condition of a frame, please contact us prior to the auction. 

  • Provenance:
    Alistair Sampson Antiques, London, 1986.
    An important Connecticut Collection.

    Illustrated:
    English Dolls' Houses of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Vivien Green (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1955), p. 93. Further discussion of the piece p. 99-100.

    Advertised in The Magazine Antiques, January 1986.

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$50 $99 $10
$100 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000