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.
Jacques Adnet, Large Square Center Table, France, 1955
By Jacques Adnet
Located in New York, NY
This table was part of a project Jacques Adnet undertook with fellow designer André Arbus to redecorate the Palais des Consuls de Rouen in 1955.
Mahogany
Maison Leleu, Midcentury Coffee Table, France, circa 1965
By Maison Leleu
Located in New York, NY
This beautiful Maison Leleu coffee table is a fine example of the firm's 1960s output -- a sleek tripodal base of aluminum topped with a perfectly ci...
Aluminum
Jean Touret & the Artisans of Marolles Center Table, France, circa 1960
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in New York, NY
Stamped "Marolles." Edition of 20 Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While there, he became highly conscious of the uncertainty that Industrial development would bring to the future of the local craftsmen. Believing strongly in the value of the artisan...
Elm
Pierre-Paul Montagnac, Art Deco Table, France, 1926
By Pierre-Paul Montagnac
Located in New York, NY
Art Deco console table by Pierre-Paul Montagnac (1883-1961) Signed on underside: Montagnac, 1926 Bibliography: Le Mobilier du XXe Siecle, Dictionnaire des créateurs by Pierre K...
Mahogany, Walnut
Adjustable Center Table by Maison Leleu, Gunmetal & Gilt-Bronze
By Maison Leleu
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful example of 1960s Maison Leleu, this table features fluted gunmetal columns and gilt-bronze accents, as well as a four canted feet, which complement well the table's round top above. Center leaf would need to be reproduced. Additional legs drop when table is fully extended. The length when fully extended is 141". The height ranges from 22.5" to 28.5". This model was displayed in the 1965 SICOB, an exhibition of office furniture that included many Leleu pieces. For illustrations of this identical model, see Siriex, Franc¸oise. The House of Leleu, New York: Hudson Hills...
Metal, Bronze
Guillerme et Chambron, Mid-century Extendable Oak Dining Table, France, 1950
By Guillerme et Chambron, Votre Maison
Located in New York, NY
An extendable limed oak dining table. At its longest (as pictured) it is 89" long, and collapsed 44.5". Guillerme placed equal emphasis on fu...
Oak
Dining Table Attributed to Charles Dudouyt, France, 1940s
By Charles Dudouyt
Located in Antwerp, BE
This dining table, attributed to Charles Dudouyt and dating to the 1940s, reflects a distinctive synthesis of rustic tradition and modernist simplification characteristic of French d...
Wood, Hardwood, Oak
Dining Table Attributed to Ateliers Leleu, France, 1940s
By Maison Leleu
Located in Antwerp, BE
Attributed to the Ateliers Leleu and dating to the 1940s, this dining table demonstrates the transition from Art Deco refinement toward a more restrained and architectural modernism....
Walnut
Art Deco Guéridon Table by Jules Leleu, France, 1935
By Jules Leleu
Located in Kampen, NL
Elegant Art Deco guéridon attributed to Jules Emile Leleu, France, circa 1935. Expertly crafted in rosewood and walnut veneer, the circular top features refined marquetry inlay, whil...
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
Charles Dudouyt Expandable Oak Center Table, France 1940's
By Charles Dudouyt
Located in New York, NY
Striking center table in oak with intricately carved legs linked by a semi curved stretcher, the cleverly designed top deploys from 41” to 75” by simply pulling the leaves that subtl...
Oak
Art Deco Large Gueridon Table by Nancy Vallin, Oak, France, 1950s
By Nancy Vallin
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Oak large gueridon designed and realised by Ateliers VALLIN , Nancy , France , 1930's Original condition
Oak
