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Domingos Tótora was born and raised in Maria da Fé, Brazil, 1960. He creates objects and sculptures where beauty is inseparable from function, lifting common everyday objects and injecting them with the spirit of the beautiful mountainous region he grew up in. After studying design in São Paulo and Inspired by the large amounts of discarded cardboard he saw in the streets, Tótora created a process where reclaimed cardboard is broken down into small parts, transformed into a cellulose plaster and with the use of added water, glue and natural pigments gets shaped into new forms. Although Tótora’s team follows his designs closely, his creations are made by hand and inherently open for little imperfections and differences, purposely adding to the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic of the work.

Organic modern furniture is characterized by clean lines, an overall uncomplicated aesthetic and a prioritizing of natural, sustainable materials, such as wood and stone. There are lots of earth tones and natural-world textures rather than bright color palettes or fabrics embellished with busy patterns.

Organic furniture is minimalist and, owing to the ideas of venerable architect Frank Lloyd Wright, designed for warm spaces that promote harmony between human habitation and the great outdoors. Organic modern design, including in furniture and architecture, emerged in the 1930s.

Designers such as Andrianna Shamaris, Alguacil & Perkoff and Jörg Pietschmann — all known for organic modern design — have created furniture that brings dynamic and unpredictable energy to home interiors while emphasizing the importance of a relationship with the natural world.

Striking an appealing balance between our living spaces and nature doesn't have to be an arduous task — the broad selection of original organic modern furniture on 1stDibs includes solid wood tables, bamboo seating options, hand-knotted wall tapestries and more.

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.

Whether it’s a Chinese Han dynasty glazed ceramic wine vessel, a work of Murano glass or a hand-painted Scandinavian modern stoneware piece, a fine vase brings a piece of history into your space as much as it adds a sophisticated dynamic. 

Like sculptures or paintings, antique and vintage vases are considered works of fine art. Once offered as tributes to ancient rulers, vases continue to be gifted to heads of state today. Over time, decorative porcelain vases have become family heirlooms to be displayed prominently in our homes — loved pieces treasured from generation to generation.

The functional value of vases is well known. They were traditionally utilized as vessels for carrying dry goods or liquids, so some have handles and feature an opening at the top (where they flare back out). While artists have explored wildly sculptural alternatives over time, the most conventional vase shape is characterized by a bulbous base and a body with shoulders where the form curves inward.

Owing to their intrinsic functionality, vases are quite possibly versatile in ways few other art forms can match. They’re typically taller than they are wide. Some have a neck that offers height and is ideal for the stems of cut flowers. To pair with your mid-century modern decor, the right vase will be an elegant receptacle for leafy snake plants on your teak dining table, or, in the case of welcoming guests on your doorstep, a large ceramic floor vase for long tree branches or sticks — perhaps one crafted in the Art Nouveau style — works wonders.

Interior designers include vases of every type, size and style in their projects — be the canvas indoors or outdoors — often introducing a splash of color and a range of textures to an entryway or merely calling attention to nature’s asymmetries by bringing more organically shaped decorative objects into a home.

On 1stDibs, you can browse our collection of vases by material, including ceramic, glass, porcelain and more. Sizes range from tiny bud vases to massive statement pieces and every size in between.