Jean-François LELEU (1729 – 1807):
Student of the prestigious Jean-François Oeben, he passed his master’s degree in cabinetmaking and carpentry which he obtained in 1764. By his furniture of a high quality of execution, he seems to incarnate the Transition period by himself. He will become the main supplier of the Prince de Condé. His manufacture is characterized by furniture that is both robust and lighter without ever sacrificing to fantasy. He will work on marquetry, mahogany or satin veneer, sometimes decorating some of these pieces of furniture with plates of Sèvres porcelain, and more rarely with lacquers from China and Japan. He was one of the most remarkable cabinetmakers of the period. After surviving the Revolution, he gave his workshop to his son-in-law Charles-Antoine Stadler with whom he had been associated since 1780 and died in 1807.
