Brazilian Buffets
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.
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Wood
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Teak, Lacquer
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Teak, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Ceramic, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Hardwood
1950s Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Wood, Jacaranda
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Metal
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Wood
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Wood, Cane
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Brass
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Hardwood, Plywood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Hardwood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Wood, Cane
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Granite
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Brass
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Hardwood, Bentwood
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Hardwood, Plywood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Formica, Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Laminate, Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Metal
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Metal
1940s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Brass
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Buffets
Metal, Chrome
1940s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Brass
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Other, Brass
2010s Modern Brazilian Buffets
Wood
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Teak, Lacquer
1950s Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Wood
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Buffets
Brass
2010s Post-Modern Brazilian Buffets
Wood
1960s Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Mahogany
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Buffets
Metal
20th Century Brazilian Buffets
Wood