Jules Leleu- A French 1950s 3 Drawer Walnut Writing Table with Brass Details
About the Item
- Creator:Jules Leleu (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.93 in (76 cm)Width: 47.25 in (120 cm)Depth: 23.63 in (60 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Very good original condition, minor wear consistent with age and use, refinished with a light satin finish.
- Seller Location:Long Island City, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 2344-D1stDibs: LU784844637092
Jules Leleu
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Long Island City, NY
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View AllVintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Bronze
Vintage 1940s French Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Bronze
Vintage 1940s French Art Deco Dining Room Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Palisander
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Bronze
You May Also Like
2010s European Mid-Century Modern Desks
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
2010s European Mid-Century Modern Desks
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
2010s European Mid-Century Modern Desks
Brass
