Pair of Sergio Rodrigues 'Tonico' Chairs
View Similar Items
Pair of Sergio Rodrigues 'Tonico' Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Sergio Rodrigues (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 37.6 in (95.5 cm)Width: 39.38 in (100 cm)Depth: 31.5 in (80 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1965
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Madrid, ES
- Reference Number:Seller: NKAR000991stDibs: LU2161322322082
Sergio Rodrigues
The prolific architect and designer Sergio Rodrigues is often called the "father of modern Brazilian design," but it is the second adjective in that phrase that deserves emphasis: Rodrigues’s great achievement was to create furniture in a style that captured the spirit, character and personality of his country.
Modernity came slowly to 20th-century Brazil, politically and culturally. The nation finally realized genuine constitutional democracy in 1945, ushering in a new, progressive era in the arts. Until that time, heavy furniture based on historical European models had been the norm. In the late 1940s, designer Joaquim Tenreiro introduced sleek, minimalist chairs and cabinets; José Zanine Caldas, now best known for his later artisanal work, created plywood furnishings for mass-production; the Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi, a former editor for the Gio Ponti-founded magazine Domus, set up shop in São Paulo, designing elegant, flexible chairs set on slim metal frames.
This was the heady scene into which Rodrigues, the son of an artistically prominent Rio de Janeiro family, arrived after graduating in 1952 from the national university. He established Oca Industries in 1955, a company that would become the preeminent maker of modernist furniture in Brazil. When architects Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer were tasked in 1956 with the whirlwind project to plan, design and build the new capital, Brasília, in five years, they used Rodrigues’s early chairs, with their softly-contoured lines and caned seats and backrests, to furnish many of the buildings.
Rodrigues would realize the true expression of his talents in — and garner international awards and acclaim with — his Mole chair of 1957. The word mole means "soft" in Portuguese, but can be interpreted as "easygoing" or even "listless." Rodrigues's chair features a sturdy, generously proportioned frame of the native South American hardwood jacaranda, upholstered with overstuffed leather pads that flap like saddlebags across the arms, seat, and backrest. It is a chair that invites sprawling — perfect for the social milieu of the bossa nova and caipirinha cocktails; where a languorous afternoon spent chatting and joking is the apex of enjoyment.
Most of the estimated 1,200 armchairs, sofas, tables, storage cabinets and dining tables Rodrigues designed in his long career are imbued, in one way or another, with this air of robust relaxation. Sergio Rodrigues was a designer true to the temperament of his people.
- Pair Blue of Niccola Lounge Chairs by Andrea Branzi for ZanottaBy Zanotta, Andrea BranziLocated in Madrid, ESPair of armchairs, model Niccola, designed in 1993 by Andrea Branzi for Zanotta. Construction on a four-legged tubular steel frame, upholstered and covered in dark blue leather, armr...Category
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Pair of Jorge Zalszupin Presidential Armchairs of Hardwood and SuedeBy Jorge ZalszupinLocated in Madrid, ESPair of 'Presidencial' lounge armchairs, circa 1959-1965, by Polish-Brazilian architect and designer Jorge Zalszupin (1922-2020). These lounge chairs can be displayed with or without their original mustard colored nubuck leather cushions. Base formed of tubular steel and black lacquered metal slats, large thermoformed seat in a shape of an arc of hardwood veneer, backrest of profiled hardwood veneer slats. Manufacturered by L'Atelier, labeled. Literature: Jorge Zalszupin - Design Moderno No Brazil, Maria Cecilia Loschiavo des Santos...Category
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Zeca Armchairs by José Zanine CaldasBy José Zanine Caldas, Mòveis Artisticos ZLocated in Madrid, ESThe "Zeca" chair was created in the early 1960s by a Brazilian designer José Zanine Caldas (1918-2001) for Móveis Artísticos Z, a factory he founded in São José dos Campos in 1948. This pair of armchairs has been recently reupholstered in cream-colored bouclé fabric and features a signature plywood frame of organic shape. Literature: Movel Moderno Brasileiro...Category
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBouclé, Hardwood, Plywood
$41,750 / set - Pair of White Boucle Covered Art Deco Tub ArmchairsLocated in Madrid, ESPair elegant of white Art Deco style tub armchairs, manufactured in Italy during the 1960s. Dark stained wood frame and new white bouclé fabric upholstery. Minor wear on the wooden p...Category
20th Century Italian Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Pair of Black Elettra Lounge Chairs by ArflexBy Studio BBPR, ArflexLocated in Madrid, ESPair of 'Elettra' chairs originally designed by B.B.P.R. in 1954, Italy. This pair of lounge chairs is produced by Arflex circa 2018, featuring black tubular steel frame and black em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$5,383 / set - Swedish Modern Oak Armchair Bodö by Svante SkoghBy Svante Skogh, AB Hjertquist & CoLocated in Madrid, ESLounge chair, model Bodö, designed in 1957 by Svante Skogh. Made by AB Hjertquist & Co in Nässjö, Sweden. Frame in oak, leather saddle seat, recently reupholstered cushions. This arm...Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fabric, Upholstery, Oak
- Pair of Tonico Rosewood Chairs by Sergio RodriguesBy Sergio RodriguesLocated in Atlanta, GAA pair of vintage rosewood lounge chairs designed by Sergio Rodrigues, made by Oca for Meia Pateca in Brazil, circa 1963. Modeled as "Tonico", these chairs were constructed with soli...Category
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Rosewood
$26,000 / set - Pair of Sergio Rodrigues Tonico Lounge Chairs, 1962, BrazilBy Sergio Rodrigues, Meia PatacaLocated in Oakland, CAStunning Pair of Sergio Rodrigues Tonico lounge chairs produced by OCA/Meia-Pataca in Brazil, 1962. The chairs are constructed of...Category
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Imbuia
- Sergio Rodrigues Tonico Lounge Chairs with Ottomans, 1960s BrazilBy Oca, Sergio RodriguesLocated in Los Angeles, CAStunning pair of Tonico lounge chairs designed by Sergio Rodrigues with matching ottomans. Made by Oca for Meia Pataca in Brazil, these chairs and ottomans are made of solid Jacarand...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWool, Wood, Leather
- Sergio Rodrigues ‘Kilin' Lounge Chairs. set of three, Brasil, 1970sBy Sergio RodriguesLocated in Amsterdam, NLExceptional set of Kilin chairs by Brazilian architect Sergio Rodrigues. Made dark wood and high quality saddle leather these chairs have become truly iconic over the years. The open...Category
Vintage 1970s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood, Leather
- Vintage Pair of Moleca Rosewood Armchairs by Sergio Rodrigues, 1962, BrazilBy Sergio RodriguesLocated in New York, NYThroughout Sergio Rodrigues' career, many of his pieces underwent adjustment, adapted to new material resources and production conditions, or even reinvented. The Moleca armchair...Category
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Rosewood
- "Kilin" Single Armchair by Sergio RodriguesBy Sergio RodriguesLocated in New York, NYDesigned by Sergio Rodrigues (1927-2014) in 1973 and produced by Oca, the Kilin armchair is composed of two sides and two crosspieces, with the back and...Category
Vintage 1970s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
$7,500 / item