Amazonian Baskets
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Rosewood
Late 20th Century Brazilian Native American Native American Objects
Other
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Natural Fiber
Vintage 1960s Indonesian Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Bowls
Clay
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Tribal Wall-mounted Sculptures
Reed
People Also Browsed
20th Century Korean Showa Paintings and Screens
Silk, Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century Indian Tabriz Indian Rugs
Silk
Antique 19th Century French Louis XVI Chaise Longues
Fabric, Wood
20th Century Japanese Screens and Room Dividers
Vintage 1970s Japanese Showa Paintings
Paper
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Daybeds
Leather, Wood
Antique 19th Century Japanese Screens and Room Dividers
Paper
Antique Late 19th Century Arts and Crafts Screens and Room Dividers
Walnut
Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Daybeds
Leather, Mohair, Mahogany
Vintage 1910s French Rococo Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary French Daybeds
Bronze
Antique 19th Century French Louis Philippe Daybeds
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary French Daybeds
Bronze
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
Velvet, Pine
Antique Early 19th Century French Restauration Daybeds
Ormolu, Bronze
Vintage 1960s Indian Mid-Century Modern Tapestries
Silk
Recent Sales
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Natural Fiber
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Natural Fiber
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Reed
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Natural Fiber
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Natural Fiber
20th Century Brazilian Tribal Decorative Baskets
Reed
On the Origins of Brazil
More often than not, vintage mid-century Brazilian furniture designs, with their gleaming wood, soft leathers and inviting shapes, share a sensuous, unique quality that distinguishes them from the more rectilinear output of American and Scandinavian makers of the same era.
Commencing in the 1940s and '50s, a group of architects and designers transformed the local cultural landscape in Brazil, merging the modernist vernacular popular in Europe and the United States with the South American country's traditional techniques and indigenous materials.
Key mid-century influencers on Brazilian furniture design include natives Oscar Niemeyer, Sergio Rodrigues and José Zanine Caldas as well as such European immigrants as Joaquim Tenreiro, Jean Gillon and Jorge Zalszupin. These creators frequently collaborated; for instance, Niemeyer, an internationally acclaimed architect, commissioned many of them to furnish his residential and institutional buildings.
The popularity of Brazilian modern furniture has made household names of these designers and other greats. Their particular brand of modernism is characterized by an émigré point of view (some were Lithuanian, German, Polish, Ukrainian, Portuguese, and Italian), a preference for highly figured indigenous Brazilian woods, a reverence for nature as an inspiration and an atelier or small-production mentality.
Hallmarks of Brazilian mid-century design include smooth, sculptural forms and the use of native woods like rosewood, jacaranda and pequi. The work of designers today exhibits many of the same qualities, though with a marked interest in exploring new materials (witness the Campana Brothers' stuffed-animal chairs) and an emphasis on looking inward rather than to other countries for inspiration.
Find a collection of vintage Brazilian furniture on 1stDibs that includes chairs, sofas, tables and more.