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.
Maison Leleu Modernist Round Table
By Jules Leleu
Located in Bridgewater, CT
Jules Leleu (1883-1961). Modernist circular pedestal table, with green lacquered tray top resting on a beige painted drum, with chrome footrest, 1950's. Model illustrated on page 94...
Brass
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 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
Fine French 1930s Gueridon by Jules Leleu with a Mirrored Top
By Jules Leleu
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jules Leleu (1883-1961) - A fine French Art Deco coffee table with a round mirrored top sitting on a modernist base with a bronze ring accent. Signed Price includes refinishing (in p...
Brass
Art Deco Period Mahogany Gueridon by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Montreal, QC
Art Deco Period mahogany gueridon by Jules Leleu, the top fitted with a gilt-metal circular moulding inset with an oxidized mirrored glass top, France, circa 1950. Reference: Lel...
Mahogany, Mirror
Italian 1930s Painted Wood Guéridon Table with Gilt Accents and Hoofed Feet
Located in Atlanta, GA
An Italian painted wood guéridon side table from the mid-20th century, with gilded accents and hoof legs. Born in Italy during the first half of the 20th century, this unusual guérid...
Wood
Oak Top and Ceramic Table Gueridon Signed by Dalo
By Dalo
Located in Paris, FR
Black enamel ceramic "round face" pedestal table with oak top and base. One of a kind by French ceramicists Dalo, 2021 Dalo is a shared signature used by two contemporary ceramis...
Ceramic
Maison Jansen Occasional Table
By Maison Jansen
Located in East Hampton, NY
Elegant marble-top table with a steel and brass base in the French Regency style.
Marble, Brass, Steel
French Art Deco Table By Jules Leleu
By Paul Follot, Maison Dominique, Jean Dunand, Jules Leleu, Eugene Printz
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
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
$4,850
H 30.5 in Dm 20.5 in
Fine French Louis XVI Style Gilt Wood Carved Guéridon Side Table with Marble Top
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A French Louis XVI Style Gilt Wood Carved Guéridon Side Table with Marble Top. The circular gilt wood carved apron with an acanthus tied leaf wreath, raised on four fluted carved leg...
Marble
Maison Jansen three-tier gueridon table bronze black leather 1970s
By Maison Jansen
Located in Paris, IDF
This beautiful three-tier gueridon table by Maison Jansen was produced with solid bronze and black leather top in the early 1970s. Its faux bamboo patinated bronze, pine cones, and c...
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
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
$2,450
H 26.78 in W 21.26 in D 21.26 in
Art Deco Orientalist Gueridon Table with Embossed Brass Top 1930s
Located in Tilburg, NL
Art Deco Orientalist Gueridon Table with Embossed Brass Top 1930s. This is a very rare and wonderful art deco side table / gueridon table with a ...
Brass
$11,500
H 19.75 in W 37.5 in D 20 in
Art Deco Coffee Table by Jules Leleu in Collaboration with Katsu Hamanaka
By Jules Leleu
Located in Miami, FL
A rectangular coffee table made from Rosewood with a Black lacquered top. The 4-rounded legs of this table make it a classic design of the Art Deco period. This table was made in France and was designed by Jules Leleu in collaboration with famous Japanese lacquer artist Katsu Hamanaka...
Rosewood, Lacquer
Unusual Italian Gueridon with Moulded Glass Top
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
An unusual Italian gueridon with moulded glass top and decorative ring on top.
Brass
Antoinette guéridon by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
Guéridon Antoinette par Jules Leleu, Le plateau est changé.
Brass
Mahogany and Laque Nuagée Guéridon by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Montreal, QC
Mahogany and laque nuagée guéridon by Jules Leleu. stamped signature "J. Leleu", with circular lacquered top, set on mahogany tripod base with nickel plated bronze curved feet.
Mahogany
Jules Leleu, Art Deco Coffee Table with Mirrored Eglomisé Top, France, 1930s
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
This extraordinary table, designed by one of the early 20th century's greatest designers, represents the consummation of French Art Deco elegance. The table's circular top--a spectac...
Bronze
Elegant Art Deco Period Sycomore Gueridon by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Montreal, QC
Elegant Art Deco period Sycomore gueridon by Jules Leleu with polychrome laminate top.
Sycamore
Elegant Art Deco Walnut Gueridon by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Montreal, QC
Elegant Art Deco walnut gueridon by Jules Leleu with marble top Signed: "Leleu"
Walnut
Jules Leleu Large Gueridon
By Jules Leleu
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Very nice table designed by Jules Leleu, rosewood and walnut veneer with inlaid marquetry, four brass leaf floral details.
Rosewood, Walnut
Rare Modernist Coffee Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Bridgewater, CT
French Art Deco Coffee Table by Jules Leleu (1883-1961)
In mahogany wood, the tripod base with gilded bronze feet; with pedestal leg encircled by bronze rings and surmounted by...
Bronze
Fine Table by Leleu with Eglomisé Mirrored Top
By Jules Leleu
Located in New York, NY
Fine coffee table by Leleu raised on walnut tripod pedestal base with gilt-bronze feet and fine original églomisé (glass painted from behind) mirrored top.
Numbered: 23006
Bronze
French Low Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Bridgewater, CT
Mahogany frame with "verre eglomise" (reverse painted glass) top, signed Leleu on ivory tag. Illustrated in "Leleu Decorateurs Ensembliers" by Francoise Siriex, pg. 63
Brass