This idea dates back at least to the late nineteenth century. It is said to have been listed in a Hamley Brothers catalog of that period (note: the specific catalog has not yet been located). Professor Hoffmann described it in Later Magic, 1904, p. 27. He also attributed the first practical vest servante to David Devant on page 25. In conversation, Eddie Fields told Stephen Minch that Audley Walsh developed a body servante for close-up work in the 1930s. And Fred C. Baumann published details on a similar servante made for coin work in his Odyssey of Classic Coin Sleights, 1983, p. 52. The Hamley Brothers servante was larger than the close-up and coin servantes developed later by Walsh and Baumann.
See also: Servante, Chair Servante