Set of four "First Chairs" by Joaquim Tenreiro, 1942.
About the Item
- Creator:Joaquim Tenreiro (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)Depth: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1942
- Condition:Reupholstered. Minor structural damages.
- Seller Location:São Paulo, BR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU8505235564682
Joaquim Tenreiro
The Portugese-born furniture designer Joaquim Tenreiro was a pioneer of modernism in Brazil, where his work paved the way for the successes of such mid-20th-century design greats as Sergio Rodrigues, Jorge Zalszupin, and Lina Bo Bardi, an Italian-Brazilian architect whose futuristic São Paulo buildings are only part of her legacy.
Tenreiro’s vintage tables, chairs and storage cabinets are known for their simplicity of line and an elegance that is enhanced by the use of richly grained South American hardwoods such as jacaranda and imbuia.
Tenreiro’s father and grandfather were both master woodworkers, under whom he trained in the craft. He had artistic leanings and in the late 1920s enrolled as a university student at the School of Arts and Crafts in Rio de Janeiro, where he joined a group of upstart modernists protesting the staid, retrograde curriculum at the college. At the time, Brazil was culturally mired in a 19th-century mindset that was reflected in an upper-class preference for academic painting and reproduction furnishings in antique European styles. But the progressive spirit that Tenreiro and his colleagues fostered slowly gained force.
With the terms “lightness” and “functionality” as his bywords, Tenreiro opened a furniture-design business in 1943, where one of his first clients was the legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer. The arrival of Brazil’s first democratically elected government, in 1945, lent modernism official sanction, which culminated in the construction of the new capital, Brasília. Tenreiro eventually stepped away from design in the late 1960s to devote his time to sculpture and painting.
To appreciate how revolutionary Tenreiro’s work seemed, one must imagine the heavy, ornately carved, deeply varnished furniture that was the standard for top-end Brazilian interior design in the 1930s. Tenreiro’s chairs and sofas employed slender, softly angular frames that were only lightly stained to highlight the grains of the local woods. He preferred chairs and chaises with caned seats and backrests that “breathe” in the tropical climate, and as a carpenter and joiner he wanted to show off the beauty of Brazilian wood.
Two versions of a three-legged side chair introduced in 1947 serve as a veritable manifesto for a new age in Brazilian design: Using the stack-lamination technique, Tenreiro bonded together a gently contoured seat made of alternating layers of different-colored native woods to produce a magnificent stripe effect. These chairs, like all Tenreiro works, demonstrate the enduring power of simple design and superb construction — with a teaspoon of flair.
Find vintage Joaquim Tenreiro furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Set of six MT 552 by Geraldo de BarrosBy Geraldo de BarrosLocated in São Paulo, BRGeraldo de Barros (1923-1998), a multifaceted artist hailing from Brazil, embodied a diverse range of creative disciplines, including painting, photography, furniture design, and pla...Category
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsCane, Rosewood
- Chapel Chair by Rafael TriboliLocated in São Paulo, BRThe mahogany creations are molded in grinders, sawn, and polished by hand. The rustic and manual process collides with wax’s subtle and metamorphic matter, which is blended and diffu...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Chapel Chair by Rafael TriboliLocated in São Paulo, BRRafael Triboli presents his new collection. This newly curated ensemble showcases a distinctive blend of materials and textures, including bronze and gr...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsBronze
- Chapel Chair by Rafael TriboliLocated in São Paulo, BRThe mahogany creations are molded in grinders, sawn, and polished by hand. The rustic and manual process collides with wax’s subtle and metamorphic matter, which is blended and diffu...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Chapel Chair by Rafael TriboliLocated in São Paulo, BREngravings and cutouts reclaim their potential outcomes through the practice of Rafael Triboli. Something that was once wood, steel, tin, or brass now r...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Chapel Chair by Rafael TriboliLocated in São Paulo, BRThe mahogany creations are molded in grinders, sawn, and polished by hand. The rustic and manual process collides with wax’s subtle and metamorphic matter, which is blended and diffu...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Set of 4 chairs by Joaquim TenreiroBy Joaquim TenreiroLocated in New York, NYSet of four (4) chairs with slatted seat in pau marfim (ivory wood). Designed by Joaquim Tenreiro, Brazil, 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Set of 4 Curva Dining Chairs by Joaquim TenreiroBy Joaquim TenreiroLocated in Soho, London, GBSet of 4 Curva dining chairs by Joaquim Tenreiro manufactured by Tenreiro Movèis & Decorações (circa 1960). The set can be split and ...Category
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood, Cane
- Set of 6 Chairs by Joaquim Tenreiro, 1947, Midcentury DesignBy Joaquim TenreiroLocated in New York, NYThis exquisitely crafted chair made of Perobinha-do-campo Wood, designed by Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992), evokes a refined coexistence of traditional values and modern aesthetics. It...Category
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Hardwood
- Set of Four Dining Chairs by Joaquim Tenreiro, Rosewood and Cane, circa 1960By Joaquim TenreiroLocated in New York, NYThese exquisitely crafted dining chairs designed in the 1950s by Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992), known as the “father” of Brazilian modernism, are co...Category
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsRosewood, Cane
- Pair of Lounge Chairs by Joaquim TenreiroBy Joaquim TenreiroLocated in San Francisco, CAA pair of chairs in Jacaranda and upholstered in black faux leather, made in Brazil, circa 1950 by Joaquim Tenreiro. A total of four chairs are available.Category
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsFaux Leather, Jacaranda
- Joaquim Tenreiro Curva chairs set of 8 Brazil 1961By Joaquim TenreiroLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantHighly rare and sought after ‘Curva’ chairs designed by Joaquim Tenreiro and manufactures by his own company Tenreiro Movèis & Decorações, Brazil 1961. Tenreiro was a sculptor, painter, engraver and designer, born into a family of joiners. By the late 1940s, the modern movement had taken hold...Category
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsCane, Rosewood