Metalworker Xavier Pauchard not only brought the art of galvanizing steel to France but also took the process to the next level by creating the Marais A Chair. The quintessential café chair, it was both elegant and robust enough to grace the decks of the S.S. Normandie ocean liner. “Xavier Pauchard’s Chaise A is a perfect synthesis created by a man possessed of an understanding of raw materials – and the tools used to work them,” said Serge Lemoine, former director of Musee d’Orsay, Paris. After the sudden death of Pauchard in 1948, his son Jean took over as managing director of their company, Tolix. He quickly filled a void in the collection by designing a Dining Table (1955) to go with his father’s Marais A Chair, then added the A56 Armchair a year later. All Tolix metal furniture is still made in Autun, the same Burgundy town where it all began. The Marais Collection will stand up to the rigors of public use but should be protected from wet weather conditions to maintain the finish. Slight surface abrasions and markings are characteristic of the material. Made in France.
