Jose Zanine Caldas Dining Chairs
Late 20th Century Dining Room Chairs
Oak
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Wood
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cowhide, Hardwood
Vintage 1980s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cowhide, Hardwood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Glass, Pine
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Formica, Jacaranda, Rosewood
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21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Contemporary Art
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Organic Modern Center Tables
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary American Bohemian Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Alabaster, Brass
2010s Table Lamps
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Scandinavian Modern Wall Lights an...
Metal
2010s American Flush Mount
Brass
2010s American Industrial Fireplace Tools and Chimney Pots
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Finnish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers an...
Metal
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Bronze, Enamel, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
2010s South African Modern Side Tables
Copper, Steel
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Wood
20th Century French French Provincial Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Vintage 1970s French Organic Modern Sofas
Leather, Upholstery
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Vintage 1960s Brazilian Dining Room Tables
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Dining Room Chairs
Rope, Wood
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Armchairs
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.