Cabinet Jules Leleu 1930

A unique 1930s cabinet by the eponymous French designer Jules Leleu. An exceptional piece featuring clean curvaceous lines in a rosewood veneer with a distinctive base showcasing scroll motif feet, gilded metal cylindrical pull handles with a shagreen cover plate. Jules Leleu (1883-1961) was a French designer from Boulogne-sur-Mer who studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts and École des Arts Appliqués in Paris. In 1909, he and his brother Marcel expanded the family painting company to include cabinet-making workshops. Leleu’s aesthetic philosophy was centred on a ‘luxe discret’—restrained luxury that was expressed through exceptional materials and masterful marquetry rather than ostentatious ornamentation. His breakthrough came at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts-Décoratifs in Paris, where he won a distinguished award, establishing himself as a master of French luxury design. He opened a prestigious salon on Avenue Franklin-Roosevelt in Paris, followed by a New York branch in 1948. The House of Leleu became the destination for luxury interior design, earning commissions for French embassies, ministerial offices, and over twenty grand ocean liners including the legendary Normandie and Île de France. While perhaps less internationally famous than his contemporaries like Jean-Michel Frank, Leleu was praised for his exceptional marquetry and craftsmanship. His designs embodied refined simplicity, reflecting his belief that true luxury lay in perfect execution and sublime materials rather than elaborate decoration—a philosophy beautifully exemplified in this cabinet. French, Rosewood veneer, Oak wood frame, gilded metal. Signed and numbered in cartouche. Condition: some minor veneer loss and repairs. Signed in cartouche and numbered on the back "P. 12714". PRICE EXCLUDES SHIPPING. Last image from Exhibit Fête de France at Bloomingdales, New York in 1983. A reconstruction of a deluxe apartment on board the passenger liner Normandie that Jules Leleu designed in the 1930s.