A splendid late Regency parquetry specimen top centre table, stamped S. Jamar, the octagonal tilt-top veneered in various woods with a geometric design, raised on a gilt composition stem and a triform base.

Height 69cm

Diameter 67cm

Jamar, S.

London and Liverpool; cabinet maker (fl.1818–45)

In 1818 at 29 Wardour St, Soho. In February of that year he advertised his range of

furniture in the French manner which he manufactured in London. He claimed that it was

‘equal to any made in Paris, and at a rate that upon calculation will be admitted

considerably advantageous than importing from abroad, also without incurring the risk of

being damaged on the journey’. He also offered to repair old furniture, bronzes and gilt

work. His nationality is not known but in 1819 he claimed to be cm to the King of Holland.

He had also changed his address to 37 Gerard St, Soho. From this year he appears to have

taken an interest in selling his wares and establishing a trade connection with Liverpool. In

September 1819 he advertised in the Liverpool Mercury that he was displaying a range of

‘Superb French Cabinet Furniture from his Manufactory’ in Samuel Smith's Large Room in

Lord St. Amongst the items on display were ‘a beautiful Secretaire representing the French

coffee house in Paris with 1000 columns; elegant & superb Bedsteads, modelled from one

in the possession of the Empress of France; handsome Tables, in rosewood, mahogany &

marble; superb antique & musical Clocks, richly ornamented with Sundry Cabinet

Furniture’. This furniture was to be sold by auction on 29 September 1819, though the sale

appears to have been postponed until 1 October when Samuel Smith conducted it. At the

same time that he was promoting his elegant furniture to the affluent citizens of South

Lancs. he was also seeking business partners for a venture to utilise two machines for

timber conversion. One machine, it was claimed, would ‘cut Six Veneers or more, in the

Inch, in Mahogany or any other Wood’. The other was able to ‘saw Sixty Boards at once, of

any thickness not less than a quarter of an inch’. This latter machine was claimed to do the

work of 120 men. He indicated that he was prepared to lay out his part of the capital before

requiring his partners to do so. He was also looking for partners in a venture to

manufacture furniture of a similar type to that he was producing in London. Nothing more

is recorded about his machines and he does not appear to have set up manufacturing

facilities at Liverpool. Perhaps local capital was not forthcoming. He did not however

entirely forget his ambitions to serve the Liverpool area and in March 1826 announced that

he was opening a repository at 1 Gt Charlotte St. Here he put on a display of furniture

‘which for taste in design & elegance in execution … can find no parallel’, and an

admittance fee of a shilling was charged to view it. It is possible that the exhibition may

have been of a temporary nature, however, rather than a permanent feature. The London

Post Office Directory 1845 listed Servais Jamar at 63 Frith Street, Soho Square as cabinet

maker & upholsterer.