Leon Jallot

Born in Nantes on July 24, 1874, Léon Jallot studied in Paris, opened his own workshop at the age of 16 and began sculpting wood and making his own furniture. In 1899, he became director of the Art Nouveau workshop of the collector Siegfried Bing, for his store called Art Nouveau in Paris. He remained there until 1901, supervising the production of the store as well as the installation of Bing at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1900. In 1901, Jallot became one of the founding members of the first Salon de la Société des Artistes Décorateurs. In 1903, he created his own decoration workshop where he designed and manufactured furniture, fabrics, rugs, tapestries, glassware, lacquer and screens.
Jallot's works were exhibited at the Salons de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1908, the Salon d'Automne in 1919, and at the SAD throughout the year. Jallot was the first of the designers of the Art Nouveau to turn away from floral ornamentation
He also created furniture for the Grand Salon of the French Embassy and the Hôtel du Collectionneur during the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925.
From 1921, Léon Jallot worked with his son, Maurice, and together they designed a wide variety of furniture and furnishing objects with simple lines and lacquered, painted or leather or shagreen surfaces. In the 1920s, the Jallots began to incorporate synthetic materials and metal into their pieces. Léon Jallot retired in the 1940s and died in 1967. Maurice Jallot continued the family business until the 1950s.