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.
Fine French Art Deco Extendable Round Dining Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jules Leleu: A fine French Art Deco sunburst top dining / center table in palissander with a 4 legs pedestal base and bronze details. 2 original raw wood center leaves, length with ...
Bronze
Jules Leleu Gueridon, circa 1930, France
By Jules Leleu
Located in Girona, Spain
Jules Leleu Gueridon, Made with mahogany and plated brass, circa 1930, France. Classic Art Deco design Sunburst table top 4 Art Deco designed Legs positioned on a pedestal base with bronze details Signed Good vintage condition. Jules Leleu (June 17, 1883–1961) was a French furniture designer. Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, Leleu studied decorative painting and at the age of 26 succeeded his father in the family painting business. With his brother he began work in the Decorating field. After World War I, Leleu specialized in furniture making. He opened a Paris gallery, Maison Leleu, in 1924 and exhibited at the 1925 Exposition Industrielle et Arts Decoratifs, winning a grand prize at the exposition. Leleu designed the Grand Salon of the Ambassadors at the Society of Nations in Geneva and the French Embassies of several nations as well as the ocean liners SS Ile de France...
Brass
Jules Leleu Mid-Century Round Mahogany Coffee Table, 1940s Design
By Jules Leleu
Located in Queens, NY
French Mid-Century (1940s) blond mahogany coffee table with a round sunburst design top supported on a three-column base with bronze trim and three flat feet. (JULES LELEU)
Bronze
Art Deco Coffee Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Miami, FL
A round coffee table made from Rosewood with a circular top set with a mirrored glass panel raised on a cylindrical standard with outset base set with a Bronze band and continuing to...
Brass
$17,000
Jules Leleu low table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Philadelphia, PA
French Mid-Century low table, circa 1950, by Jules Leleu in sculpted gilt wood. Documented in Ensembles Mobiliers, 1952. See photos. JULES-EMILE LELEU (1883-1961) French sculptor...
Wood
Jules Leleu, Extension Center Table, France, C. 1952
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
Large center table/ extension dining table by Jules Leleu in sycamore marquetry with an inlaid ebony sunburst design in the center Signed "Leleu" on Ureformol plaque on the leg ...
Sycamore
French Art Deco Style Dining Table
Located in Westwood, NJ
A French Art Deco mahogany and cerejeira dining table, the circular crossbanded and molded edge top above a sphere and collar column with a turned and dished base. Inspired by a 1930...
Wood
Osvaldo Borsani Blond Walnut Center Table, Coffee Table, Italy 1940s
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Roma, IT
Marvellous round coffee table in a fantastic old walnut. This fantastic piece was design by Osvaldo Borsani in the 1940s in Italy. The coffee table, fully made in a gorgeous walnut,...
Wood, Glass, Walnut
Large Round Art Deco Dinning Table
Located in Kastrup, DK
Large round Art Deco dining table. The table top has a diameter of 155 cm and is crafted in Narra hardwood. Base in elm. From the...
Hardwood
DOS GALLOS Custom Pedestal Table with Extension Leaves
By Dos Gallos Studio
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bench made custom beehive base pedestal table with extension leaves. As shown in walnut wood. Measure: 72 inches diameter with two 12 inch leaves, extending to 96 inches long. Can be...
Walnut
Art Deco Coffee Table
Located in Hronská Breznica, Banskobystrický kraj
Art Deco cofee table professionally stained and repolished.
Walnut
French Art Deco Table By Jules Leleu
By Eugene Printz, Jules Leleu, Paul Follot, Maison Dominique, Jean Dunand
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
French Art Deco Period Jules Leleu Manner Burlwood Work Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Forney, TX
A visually striking Art Deco period inlaid burlwood travailleuse / work table, in the manner of iconic French designer Jules Leleu (Paris, France, 1883-1961) France, circa 1930s, ex...
Brass
Art Deco Italian Walnut Dining Table, 1925
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Art Deco dining table in walnut and briar, Restored and polished with shellac, Italian production in the 1920s. The table has two extensions and reaches, when open, the measure of 25...
Walnut
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
Fine French Art Deco Palisander Game Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Long Island City, NY
With a removable and reversible top, one side featuring a marquetry chess / checker board, and the other covered in felt (felt to be replaced), two drawers, and fine bronze details. ...
Bronze
Round extendable Art Déco Dining table. France 1930s. Macassar wood.
Located in Köln, NW
Round extendable Art Déco dining table. France 1930s. Macassar wood. Circumferential wide chrome bands. The surface of the table has been professionally polished. Heavy solid quality...
Chrome
French Louis XV Style Parquetry Gueridon Stand with Marble Top
Located in Pembroke, MA
French Louis XV style gueridon or center table with nicely veined green marble top and gilt bronze mounts. The parquetry on the frieze and legs is bois de rose and bois Violette. The...
Brass, Bronze
Art Deco Table by Jules leleu c1940
By Jules Leleu
Located in Paddock Wood Tonbridge, GB
An Art Deco center table by Jules leleu, the table has a parquetry top with eight cubbyholes and stands on sabre legs. The table has been fully polished by hand and is in excellent c...
Walnut
Jules Leleu Inlaid Card and Games Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in CA, CA
A luxurious Marquetry card and games table by Jules Leleau of Paris with an inlaid sycamore and ebony chess board surrounded with scrolls and swags of exquisite craftsmanship. The si...
Fruitwood
Jules Leleu Eglomise and Bronze Coffee Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Queens, NY
French midcentury round gilt metal coffee/side table with an inset verre églomisé top having a vegetable design resting on three curved feet ending in gilt bronze sabots (Jules Leleu...
Wood
Jules Leleu, Extendable dining table, France, c. 1957
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
Mahogany dining table with ebony and mother-of-pearl inlay and bronze sabots by Jules Leleu. Extendable, one original leaf available. For a sketch of a similar model, see Sirie...
Bronze
Fine Extension Dining Table by Maison Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
Fine lacquered top extension dining table by Leleu with gilt and patinated bronze legs, and its two original leaves. Dimensions below not include leaves. Leaves measure 23.5" eac...
Bronze
Rare Lacquered Top Coffee Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
Fine and rare mahogany coffee table by Jules Leleu with a lacquered top, likely by Pierre Dunand, and nickel-plated bronze feet. A similar table is il...
Mahogany, Wood