Pair of Red French Industrial Metal Stools

A fixture of Julia's Kitchen at Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter's farmhouse near Vaison-la-Romaine, these vivid red stools will be instantly familiar to anyone who attended one of Patricia's cooking classes. Photographed countless times in front of Julia Child's stove, they became one of the most recognisable elements of that much-loved space — practical, characterful and entirely at ease in a working kitchen. The design draws on Paul-Henry Nicolle's early twentieth-century French factory chair, and the influence is clear: a broad, smoothly curved "whale-tail" crossbar sits at shoulder height, offering genuine back support without ceremony. The construction is pressed metal throughout — round seats with a central hole, gently splayed legs and a continuous footrest ring that pulls the whole frame together. Lacquered in a confident, unapologetic red, they carry the honest simplicity of industrial design that has quietly become something more considered over time. Patricia recalls finding them in Dieulefit and bringing them home on the back seat of the Volkswagen convertible — which says everything about how she shops. They were chosen specifically for the high table in the courtyard, where proper back support was essential for long, convivial meals. Sold as a pair, they would be equally well placed at a kitchen island, a generous bar counter or a studio worktable, bringing a flash of Provençal colour and a story worth telling to any room that needs both.