makers / S. Jamar
S. Jamar
Biography
S. Jamar designed and produced furniture in such a confident French Empire style; he must have been trained, if not brought up on the continent. By 1819 he was at 29 Wardour Street and advertised his works as ‘equal to any made in Paris’ A closely related fall-front secretaire not only bearing his stamp but also a trade label reading ‘Jamar, French cabinet maker; manufactures all sorts of French furniture in the most fashionable manner, 29 Wardour Street, Soho,’ was sold from the property of Sir Anthony Hornby. Jamar’s nationality is to this day unknown, however a lock plate on another closely related secretaire a abattant is engraved ‘S Jamar Cabinet Maker to Louis Bonaparte King of Holland’. Louis Bonaparte was proclaimed King of Holland in 1806; he fled his Kingdom in 1810 and settled in Italy after quarrelling with his brother Napoleon. For whatever reason Jamar settled in England and continued to design and produce furniture of outstanding quality. This Secretaire is a stunning example of design and craftsmanship conjoined to produce a masterpiece of the Regency period.