Found Collectibles

Our 4,000 square feet is located in the 255 West 36th St. in the Garment District

Found Collectibles has more than 1,200 pieces from renowned modernist designers like Tenreiro and Rodrigues, as well as less known modernists such as Pierre, Weckx and Alexandre Rapoport, among others Rodrigo Salem, the founder has personally sourced the pieces, overseen restoration, and shipped to NYC from Brazil this year.

The founder, Rodrigo Salem, a collector himself for more than 20 years lives in Chelsea in New York City. Rodrigo has personally sourced the pieces, overseen restoration, and shipped to NYC from Brazil.

Here is Rodrigo our founder, with some of the finest upholsterers Brazil has to offer. Manuel (sitting in a Mole armchair), leads the crew in his Atelier in the north part of Rio de Janeiro. Most of these upholsterers worked for Sergio Rodrigues in the 80 and 90’s in the upholstery department.

We interviewed Manuelzinho and his team to understand what it takes to upholster complex pieces like the Mole or Jangada armchairs from Sergio Rodrigues and Jean Gillon respectively. Following the original techniques is a highly skilled full-time job and he will share some of that wisdom in the coming videos.

In this shot, Zeca is re-enforcing the wood structure of a dining chair. In many cases, he needs to disassemble the piece to validate the pieces authenticity. In other cases, furniture with more than 60 years have been poorly restored over the years. Zeca’s job is to assemble the piece following the original methodology.

Many of the artisanal jobs in Brazil are disappearing as younger generations pursue tech related opportunities or less demanding jobs. By recognizing these craft masters with compensated work and creating economic opportunity, we are preserving a fading know how and ensuring a legacy through future generations. This is the case of Paulo, who enlisted his nephew Vitor as apprentice giving him work and purpose.