JULES LELEU | TWO-PIECE SALON SUITE

Gonzalo Zaldumbide, Ambassador of Ecuador to France

Galerie Yves Mikaeloff, Paris

Christie's New York, The Eclectic Eye: Five Centuries of Art from the Galerie Yves Mikaeloff, May 21, 1997, lot 437

"Jules E. Leleu," Mobilier et Décoration, August-September 1924, pp. 4 (for the sofa model) and 5 (for the armchair model)

Viviane Jutheau, Jules et André Leleu, Paris, 1989, pp. 32 (for drawings of the sofa and armchair models) and 41 (for a period photograph of the armchair model)

Françoise Siriex, The House of Leleu: Classic French Style for a Modern World 1920-1973, New York, 2008, pp. 130 (for the present sofa illustrated) and 134 (for the armchair model)

The present suite was part of an entire home designed by Jules Leleu for Gonzalo Zaldumbide, the ambassador of Ecuador to Paris. The diplomat was one of Leleu's very first clients, along with other noteworthy political figures such as Prince Pierre of Monaco, father of Rainier III, who was particularly fond of Leleu's early Louis-Philippe-style furniture. In the mid-1920s, Leleu gained significant critical and commercial acclaim through his participation in important events such as the 1923 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, which prompted him to open his own business, Maison Leleu, the following year. Zaldumbide had been struck by the designer’s presentation at the Salon, from which he bought a desk and a bookcase with bronze ornaments as well as a “Lotus” armchair. In 1924, Leleu designed a bedroom suite made primarily using burl walnut, which he presented at the Salon d’Automne—reportedly with Zaldumbide in mind, who had since become a friend. Inspired by Ruhlmann, the designer created this present salon suite for the ambassador’s residence in Paris, which included side chair models also featuring stylized, Lotus-shaped decorations surrounding the seat. This ensemble is a testament to Leleu’s tremendous and burgeoning creativity in the mid-1920s, combining classicism with truly avant-garde decorative lines and ornaments, and provides Leleu and Art Deco collectors with a rare opportunity to acquire an important and early ensemble by the prolific designer.