Jules Leleu Furniture
A designer and ensemblier, Jules Leleu was one of the key authors of the Art Deco movement. While he did not win the fame of such contemporaries as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Jean-Michel Frank, Leleu had a longer career and was easily their peer in the conception of trim, refined furniture forms and in the use of the opulent materials — from lacquer and ivory to sharkskin and exotic woods — that were a keynote of haute Art Deco design.
Leleu was born into a family of artisans and decorators. Their firm, Maison Leleu, had existed since the 18th century and Jules would guide it through much of the 20th. (The business lasted until 1973, headed at the end by Jules's children.) He studied architecture, served as an aviator in World War I, and after the conflict took up design full-time. Leleu presented work at the 1925 exposition in Paris that gave us the term Art Deco, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York purchased a burl amboyna wood commode by Leleu directly from the show.
As the desks, dining tables and other furniture on 1stDibs show, Leleu was a stickler for precision craft and preferred to let his materials do the talking — his furniture is generally spare and sleek; its presence is established by figuring (or patterning/graining) in the wood and the occasional marquetry medallion. He had a keen eye for currents in design, and an adaptable sensibility. Maison Leleu would embrace many of the starker forms of modernism after the 1940s, as well as new materials such as artificial lacquer and plastics (then considered cutting-edge rather than cheap). Jules Leleu is a guiding light of 20th-century modernism: a man whose work represents both a devotion to traditional handiwork and an appreciation for the next wave in design.
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Leather, Beech
Late 20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Shagreen
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Rosewood
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Rosewood
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Crystal, Bronze
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1930s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Walnut
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Crystal, Metal, Brass
2010s British Louis XV Jules Leleu Furniture
Giltwood
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Travertine
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass, Bronze
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Velvet, Rosewood
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Beech, Fabric
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
Late 20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Shagreen
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Mirror, Wood
In mahogany wood, the tripod base with gilded bronze feet; with pedestal leg encircled by bronze rings and surmounted by...
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1940s French Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Five –piece set comprising sofa, two club chairs and two armchairs, made of oak wood, with gilt-bronze sabots and upholstered with Aubusson tapestry.<...
1940s French Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Rosewood
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Mahogany
1940s French Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass