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.
Find Jules Leleu tables, sideboards, dining chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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Jules Leleu, Art Deco, Two-Tiered Side Table with Removable Tray, France
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
Remarkable Art Deco, two-tiered table with blue-backed, glass topped, removable top, brass handles, and swirled supports.
Brass
French Art Deco Table By Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu, Sue et Mare, Eugene Printz, Paul Follot, Maison Dominique
Located in Houston, TX
French Art Deco Table By Jules Leleu. Offered is a gorgeous 1930's era French Art Deco sycamore table trimmed in stunning bronze accents and sabots and topped with a beautiful gold e...
Bronze
$4,500
H 28.5 in W 28.13 in D 18.13 in
Italian Mid-Century Modern Drinks Trolley or Bar Cart with Removable Trays
Located in Austin, TX
A fine Mid-Century Modern drinks cart or tea and coffee serving table from Italy, featuring a large removable rectangular tray top of glass with a moulded edge wooden surround, over ...
Metal
Jules Leleu Pair of French Art Deco Side Tables
By Jules Leleu
Located in Bridgewater, CT
A pair of French Art Deco side tables, circa 1930s signed LELEU, in rosewood with mother of pearl inlaid.
Rosewood
Art Deco Period Two Tier Serving Cart France
Located in New York, NY
An Art Deco period two-tier mirrored serving cart from France circa 1930. The oval polished nickel frame with mirrored tops standing on caster wheels.
Nickel
Fine Art Deco Coffee Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Bridgewater, CT
Jules Leleu (1883-1961). A modernist French Art Deco mirrored table, created circa 1936. In sycamore, with gilt bronze accents. Signed and referenced in "Mobilier et Decorati...
Brass
Jules Leleu Low Rosewood Coffee Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Philadelphia, PA
French Modernist Art Deco low coffee/side table by Jules Leleu, circa 1930, in rosewood. 31.5" diameter x 21" high. Documented in Interieurs d’Aujourd ‘Hui. JULES-EMILE LELEU (...
Rosewood
Jules Leleu Round Coffee Table, France, 1955
By Jules Leleu
Located in Lonigo, Veneto
Jules Leleu Round Coffee Table, wood, brass and glass, France, 1955 Designed in 1955, this round coffee table distills Jules Leleu’s mature language into a quiet, composed gesture. ...
Brass
French Art Deco Dining Table by Jules Leleu, c.1940
By Jules Leleu
Located in Paddock Wood Tonbridge, GB
A striking French Art Deco dining table crafted in rich rosewood, attributed to the renowned designer Jules Leleu. The table showcases his signature balance of sculptural elegance an...
Rosewood
Restored Art Deco Jules Leleu Round Oak Burled Wood Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Jules Leleu was a celebrated French designer known for his refined Art Deco furniture and interiors. Active in the early to mid-20th century, Leleu brought a sense of understated ele...
Oak, Burl
French Art Deco Coffee Table in the Style of Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in North Bergen, NJ
This amazing French Art Deco coffee table with mother-of-pearl inlay detail is in the style of famous French artist Jules Leleu. The marquetry is spectacular with butterfly details. ...
Jules Leleu Low Round Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Bridgewater, CT
A Jules Leleu rosewood and chromium-plated metal and glass low table. Literature: Viviane Jutheau, Jules and Andre Leleu, 1989, page 75 for a similar...
Brass
French Art Deco Table Attributed To Jules Leleu
By André Arbus, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jules Leleu, Jacques Adnet, Dominique
Located in Houston, TX
French Art Deco Table Attributed To Jules Leleu. This handsome period French Art Deco table features an unusual geometric design w...
Sycamore