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.
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Fabric, Glass, Wood
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
1750s Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Cedar
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Cedar
Late 18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Cedar
Late 17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Cedar
Late 17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Cedar
Early 1800s Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
Early 1800s Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
Mid-19th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Mahogany, Rosewood
17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Marble
20th Century Baroque Brazilian Furniture
Wood, Mahogany
Mid-18th Century Baroque Revival Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Leather, Wood, Paint
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Silver
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Iron
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Oak
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Silver
Early 18th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Mahogany
Late 17th Century Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Wood
1860s Baroque Antique Brazilian Furniture
Rosewood