18 February 2009

J'aime beaucoup le mobilier métallique Tolix



Last week, I wrote a piece about the Tolix tabouret avec dossier. Tolix makes a counter stool that I can't get out of my head. My post started off complaining about seeing prices listed in Euros on American websites and how that gets on my nerves because it strikes me as a pose, an affectation. Unlike American bloggers who write headlines in French of course. For the record, I write headlines in French because I'm worldly, not because I'm striking a pose. Hah!

Anyhow, in that post, I mentioned Melissa Adelman's great Antiquaire, a Chicago-area purveyor of fine European antiques and imports. Antiquaire's a distributor of all things Tolix and Melissa and I traded a couple of e-mails after that original post appeared on the 13th. She's an interesting woman and based on the photos of her shop on Antiquaire's website, I feel a sudden urge to fly to Chicago. Seriously, look over her website. I can't imagine a more thorough inventory than hers.

In the course of my correspondence with Melissa and in getting familiar with her site, I
 have really fallen for the entire collection of Tolix metal furniture (that's mobilier métallique to my fellow world travelers). In addition to the counter stools I mentioned last week, Tolix manufactures a full line of chairs, tables and lockers. Everything they make shares the same blend of utility and whimsy and I can't get enough of it.

Tolix was started in 1907 by Xavier Pauchard, who brought the art of galvanizing steel to France. By 1927, Pauchard started making his now iconic metal cafe chairs and tables. Tolix chairs graced the decks of the Normandie and still crowd the sidewalks of Paris. All Tolix metal furniture is still made in the same Burgundian town where it all began, Autun.

At a loss for some counter stools or some patio chairs? Look through Melissa's collection of new and vintage Tolix furniture. It's beautiful, timeless and indestructible stuff.

8 comments:

  1. I am not a fan of that chair. To me it says, "Cold butt."

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  2. Hmmmm. It must be a function of my living in a warm climate. In my part of the world a cold butt is a welcome thing. Good point though. I wonder how owners of these delightful chairs manage that? These guys have to be better than the soul-stealing chill of an Emeco Navy Chair though.

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  3. *laughing* Yup. You definitely showed your weather bias there, mon ami.

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  4. I get the cold butt thing (comes from living in the Great White North!!), but the colours are fun :-) And the stainless steel one is quite striking.

    I think a chair like that would be well-suited to a kid's bedroom as a desk chair :-)

    Kelly

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  5. Hey! Design Ties Kelly and Kitchen Sync Kelly, are you familiar with one another's blogs? Two Canadian Kellys, what are the odds? Thanks for chiming in ladies. The chilly seat thing reamins and interesting line of inquiry though. I'm waiting for someone who actually owns one of these chairs to pipe up.

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  6. We don't know each other, but now I'll go peek. :)

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  7. Tolix chairs are so comfortable. They were the chairs in French Parisian bistros so they intend for you to stay, eat and relax. Who cares that they are metal?! Check out the C Chair and A97 at antiquaireonline.com

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  8. Amy: Do you know Melissa Adelman? If you're in Chicago, meet her. If you're not in Chicago, she's a great pen pal.

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