Jacques and Hay: 19th Century Toronto Furniture Makers

L.J. Rouse was a freelance writer in Toronto.

The firm of Jacques and Hay manufactured some of the finest furniture produced in Canada during the mid-nineteenth century. Their work graced, or now adorns, among other establishments, Rideau Hall, Government House, the Queen’s Hotel (on the site of the Royal York Hotel), and Spadina House.

Their first factory, founded in 1835, was located at King and Bay Streets in Toronto. In the 1840s another factory was built on Front Street, and in 1853 still more property was acquired near the waterfront. This was followed by drastic losses of property and seasoned lumber in a fire in 1853. The firm rebounded and the handsome pieces, mostly of solid walnut with no veneering, were the admiration of the day.

This handsome volume describes and illustrates the “Jakesenhay” furniture prized today at auctions and in private sales. Some pieces are displayed in period settings, as at Spadina House in Toronto; some individual pieces are shown alone in either colour or black-and-white photographs, with accompanying descriptions. The photos, most of them by Ken Brown, are sumptuous. The book is attractively designed and readable for the novice as well as by the aficionado.