Jules Leleu ( 1883-1961)

Born outside of Paris in Boulogne-sur -Mer in 1883, , Jules Leleu studied and trained as a decorative painter. In 1909 at the age of 26 took over his father's business and started a decorating division. After World War I, Leleu specialised in furniture making. He often went to Paris to discover the best cabinetmakers and by 1924 set up his office there under Maison Leleu. His furniture creations for the international exposition that gave Deco its name in 1925 were such a success that he won a grand prize at the exposition and gained prestigious new clients. He employed his whole family in his Maison Leleu, offering interior decoration services, furniture, boiseries, textiles, rugs and lighting fixtures. He collaborated with Ivan Da Silva Bruhns on the rugs, Lurcat for tapestries and Dunand for lacquer.His furniture was simplified in line but was made out of the finest woods, such as macassar ebony, sycamore, burl walnut and palisander. Its spare decoration might be a floral motif of ivory inlay or a fanlike bronze adornment, always of high quality and restrained style. As he became known for his luxe creations he was hired to design interiors for the Grand Salon of the Ambassadors at the Society of Nations in Geneva and the French Embassies of several nations, as well as interiors for the French president's train, for the ocean liners Ile-de-France and the Normandie and for film sets.
Jules Leleu worked with Alice Colonieu, she produced for Jules Leleu two beautiful ceramic panels for the Ocean Liner Pierre Loti.