Brazilian Metalwork
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 Brutalist Brazilian Metalwork
Brass
2010s Brutalist Brazilian Metalwork
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Art Nouveau Brazilian Metalwork
Brass
20th Century Brazilian Metalwork
Iron
20th Century British Colonial Brazilian Metalwork
Brass
Late 20th Century Brazilian Metalwork
Bronze
Early 20th Century Folk Art Brazilian Metalwork
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Metalwork
Brass
Late 19th Century Late Victorian Antique Brazilian Metalwork
Brass, Iron
20th Century Hollywood Regency Brazilian Metalwork
Metal, Brass
Early 20th Century Meiji Brazilian Metalwork
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Moorish Brazilian Metalwork
Brass
Early 19th Century Victorian Antique Brazilian Metalwork
Iron
Late 19th Century Late Victorian Antique Brazilian Metalwork
Brass