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.
$986Sale Price / item|71% Off
Humidor Box Joá - Contemporary Cedarwood Cigar Box
By Valter Costa Lima
Located in BR
The cigar box conceived by Valter Costa Lima is an eloquent testament to the union between tradition and innovation. Made of cedarwood, every stroke of this piece is an ode to the Br...
Hardwood
$1,800
H 2.13 in W 6.38 in D 6.13 in
Tiffany Studios Zodiac Pattern Gilt Bronze Cigar Humidor or Table Box No. 1655
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine antique Tiffany Studios box. In gilt Bronze. In the Zodiac pattern. Model no. 1655. This table box is often referred to as a cigar humidor. It also functions beautifully a...
Bronze
$6,909 / item
H 10.24 in W 10.83 in D 11.82 in
Hundred Cigar Solid Bog-Oak Humidor, Cedar Lining & Brass Jointing
Located in London, GB
Dovedale — has designed two different humidors, a smaller humidor carrying fifty cigars and a more substantial to take a hundred cigars. Both are lined with Spanish cedar to keep the...
Brass
Paradigm Humidor Company Cigar Box Marquetry Wood Inlay
By Dunhill
Located in Chula Vista, CA
Paradigm Wood Inlay Marquetry Humidor Cigar Box 5.5 h x 12 w x 9.5 d Preowned vintage Refer to images.
Wood
$3,725
H 7.29 in W 8.67 in D 5.32 in
Stunning Original Antique Hand Carved Black Forest Wood Cigar Box Humidor House
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer for sale this rather lovely antique original circa 1880 Black Forest Wood musical Cigar box Humidor with built in music box A very good looking and well ...
Wood
19th Century Dog House Cigar Box or Humidor
Located in San Francisco, CA
Charming 19th Century cigar box or humidor guarded by a metal dog with glass eyes on a short lease. These boxes are perfect for collectors of boxes...
Metal
$280
H 2.25 in W 9.5 in D 5.88 in
Beautiful Hand Crafted Cigar Humidor Box Catchall Antique Austria, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A cigar or desktop catchall box from Austria in the 1900s, made of patinated brass and wood, sounds like a unique and valuable antique. The fact that this particular box is an antique from the early 1900s adds to its value and collectability. Depending on the condition and other factors such as the brand or maker, it could be worth a significant amount of money to collectors of antique smoking...
Metal
FORNASETTI Cigar Humidor
By Fornasetti, Piero Fornasetti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian wooden cigar humidor box with cammei design on faux marble / made in Milan Italy by Fornasetti, in the 1980s Original metal label inside Measures: width 10 inches, de...
Wood
$4,498Sale Price|25% Off
H 10 in W 18 in D 12.5 in
GERMANY 1870 Black Forest Oversized Cigar Humidor Box In Solid Carved Oak Wood
By Black Forest
Located in Miami, FL
A German cigar humidor box carved in oak wood. This is a fabulous oversized black forest humidor box created in northern Europe, most probably in Germany or Switzerland, back in the...
Bronze
$526
H 2.49 in W 7.88 in D 5.52 in
Art Deco Modernist Metal Brass Jewelry Cigar Box Humidor Etched Lacquered
By Ruppelwerk, Bauhaus, Erhard & Söhne, Bauhaus Deutschland
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
Elegant vintage jewelry or cigar box, attributed to Erhard & Söhne, Germany, early to mid-20th century. This finely crafted box is made of gilt brass and richly decorated with intric...
Metal
Vintage mahogany handcrafted cigar humidor
Located in Allentown, PA
This is a vintage handcrafted cigar humidor. This humidor has beautiful brass handles on either side with a beautiful brass escutcheon at the front covering the keyhole. This box is ...
Mahogany
$1,480
H 10.24 in W 9.85 in D 7.88 in
Rare Swiss Black Forest 19th century cigar box / humidor with dog hand-carved
Located in Ijzendijke, NL
A distinguished 19th-century Swiss cigar box, exquisitely hand-carved and finished on all sides with dense, interlacing floral and foliate motifs characteristic of the finest Black F...
Wood
Heintz Arts & Crafts Sterling Silver on Bronze Humidor or Cigar Box
By Heintz Art Metal Shop
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous Arts & Crafts period humidor or cigar box By Heintz Art Metal Shop USA, Early 20th Century Sterling silver on patinated bronze, with cedar lined interior. Measures: 8....
Sterling Silver, Bronze