Yanomami Basket

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.

Antique and vintage decorative baskets can lend unique charm to any room. And basketmaking is hardly a lost art.

Evidence of basket weaving dates back tens of thousands of years, with one of the most intact examples found in the Judean Desert from the Neolithic period. Historically, baskets have mainly served utilitarian needs — to carry food, store materials and even hold water — but they could also be ornamental objects or have ceremonial or religious purposes.

Native American baskets come from a tradition steeped in generations of skill. There are new and made-to-order baskets from artisans who put their own spin on the ancient art as well as 21st-century pre-owned decorative baskets to complement any furniture style or design preference.

A metal basket or brass basket can match a modern or industrial-style home and add some contrasting rusticity. Wooden baskets, wicker baskets and natural-fiber baskets can easily harmonize with boho chic and cottagecore interiors.

Ceramic baskets are part of the pottery tradition, a craft with a deep heritage in human history. Ceramics are popular in decor again, and the personalization of handmade craftsmanship has served as a sort of anti-Internet to screen-weary decorators. Depending on a ceramic basket’s style, it can fit in with a more formal, cottage, Asian or Southwestern interior theme.

Browse 1stDibs for a wide selection of decorative baskets to fit any design need.