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 Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1930s French Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Steel
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Wool
Late 20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Shagreen
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Metal
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass, Metal
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Wool
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Wool
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
20th Century French Jules Leleu Furniture
Walnut
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Crystal, Bronze
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
Late 19th Century Caucasian Kazak Antique Jules Leleu Furniture
Natural Fiber, Organic Material, Wool
Late 20th Century Italian Jules Leleu Furniture
Metal
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Leather, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Jules Leleu Furniture
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Nickel
20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
1930s French Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Steel
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Wool
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Cotton
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Jules Leleu Furniture
Wool
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Paper
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Brass
Late 20th Century French Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Chrome
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Metal, Gold Leaf
20th Century French Jules Leleu Furniture
Metal
1930s French Vintage Jules Leleu Furniture
Bronze