Xavier Pauchard

Born in Burgundy, France, in 1880, Xavier Pauchard was France’s leading manufacturer of galvanised steel products. As the son and grandson of roofers and zinc workers, he began his career in the same line of work. Although he grew up surrounded by forests and woods, it was metal that he chose to work with. Fascinated by it, he opened the X Pauchard workshops in 1905 and began refining his technique over the years, first with iron, then with steel, until he succeeded in shaping it into the forms he desired. He also took an interest in a chemical process known as galvanisation, which protects sheet metal from corrosion, though this remained little used.

Xavier Pauchard was a visionary of his time and designed numerous pieces of furniture with a view to making them both practical and marketable. He registered the Tolix trademark in 1927 after creating the chair that would bring him national, and later international, fame: the A Chair. An icon of industrial design, the A Chair is one of the most enduring creations. Initially used on café terraces, in hospitals and by local authorities, the A Chair was part of the furnishings on the ocean liner Normandie and made its way to the United States, where it was adopted by the US Army.

The A Chair remains a timeless design to this day. It was redesigned in 1956 by Jean Pauchard, Xavier Pauchard’s son, and marketed under the name A56 Chair.

Xavier Pauchard and his designs are exhibited in numerous international museums, such as the MoMA in New York and the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. Although Tolix left the Pauchard family in the early 2000s, it still exists and continues to play an important role in the world of interior design.