Brazilian Furniture
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 International Style Brazilian Furniture
Aluminum, Chrome
2010s Brutalist Brazilian Furniture
Aluminum
1970s Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Silver Plate
1970s Modern Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Organic Modern Brazilian Furniture
Rock Crystal, Silver Leaf
2010s Modern Brazilian Furniture
Crystal, Brass, Gold
2010s Modern Brazilian Furniture
Crystal, Brass, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Hollywood Regency Brazilian Furniture
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Furniture
Porcelain
1950s Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Sterling Silver
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Furniture
1660s Antique Brazilian Furniture
Silver, Sterling Silver
2010s Modern Brazilian Furniture
Crystal, Nickel, Brass
1950s Neoclassical Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Porcelain
20th Century Brazilian Furniture
Shell
1940s Modern Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Brazilian Furniture
Porcelain
1990s Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Furniture
Silver Plate
Mid-19th Century Antique Brazilian Furniture
Silver
1970s Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Silver Plate, Brass
1970s Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Brass, Silver Plate
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Silver Plate
1980s Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Silver Plate
19th Century Antique Brazilian Furniture
Silver
20th Century Modern Brazilian Furniture
Silver Plate
1970s Art Deco Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Metal, Silver Plate
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Furniture
Metal, Silver Plate
2010s Brazilian Furniture
Leather
2010s Brazilian Furniture
Leather