Brazilian Benches
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 Organic Modern Brazilian Benches
Steel
Early 2000s Modern Brazilian Benches
Wood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Benches
Parchment Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Benches
Brass
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Fabric, Wood
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Velvet
2010s Brazilian Benches
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Benches
Steel
1930s Art Deco Vintage Brazilian Benches
Walnut, Burl
Late 19th Century Louis XV Antique Brazilian Benches
Silk, Beech
1960s French Provincial Vintage Brazilian Benches
Fabric, Oak
2010s Modern Brazilian Benches
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Benches
Wicker, Hardwood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Chrome
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Rosewood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Iron
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Brazilian Benches
Iron
Early 2000s Post-Modern Brazilian Benches
Cane, Wood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Rosewood
2010s Organic Modern Brazilian Benches
Steel
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Jacaranda, Rosewood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brazilian Benches
Rosewood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Benches
1960s Vintage Brazilian Benches
Rosewood