While the spotlight is now on mid-20th-century designs, Brazilian furniture has a long history dating back to the 18th century, when the territory was a Portuguese colony. Last October Sotheby’s New York sold a late 17th- to early 18th-century Portuguese baroque rosewood table for $30,000. Its heavily turned legs and stretchers would become a dominant characteristic of Brazilian colonial furniture.

Notus, a gallery located in Tribeca, is a major source for early Brazilian furniture. At any given time, it may have a selection of tables and chests with turned legs and stretchers, embossed leather chairs and large paneled armoires. Presently it has an 18th-century baroque rosewood chest with raised block paneling for $16,500. The interior is painted, an indication of the original owner’s wealth.

In the 19th century, cane replaced leather for seating, and heavy carving gave way to more elegant classical lines. The designs of English cabinetmaker Thomas Sheraton, as well as the Directoire and Empire styles popular in France at the time, were given a tropical twist. The gallery has a Sheraton- inspired rosewood caned bench ($14,500) and gracefully curving canape with imperial provenance ($15,475).

“Museums are giving South American decorative arts a closer look—Brazilian colonial furniture in particular because of the country’s size, wealth and multiple influences woven into its history,” says Stephen Hurrell, co-owner, along with his wife, Julie Sherlock, of Notus. The couple is writing a book on Brazilian furniture prior to the 20th century.

But Brazilian furniture is about the present, not the past. Fernando (b.1961) and Humberto (b. 1953) Campana admit they like to break the rules and work with unlikely materials—scraps of wood used in Brazil’s favelas (shantytowns), stuffed animals and tightly rolled fabrics resembling sushi—a mission that has made them a favorite among design aficionados. In 2005 a Campana Teddy Bear chair brought $66,000 at Sotheby’s. Like Zanine, Hugo Franca (b. 1954) has a reverence for wood and gives new life to pequis trees destroyed by fire. He transforms these dead tree trunks that were once part of Bahia’s Atlantic rain forest, into “furniture sculpture,” benches, chairs and tables that continue to represent the forest. R 20th Century has a Franca coffee table carved directly from the cross section of a pequis tree ($22,000). Cláudia Moreira Salles’ (b. 1955) designs are light and sophisticated. Rodrigues calls them “authentic designs with a distinct Brazilian flavor” and compares the designer’s creativity to that of Eileen Grey and Charlotte Perriand. The clean rectilinear furniture designs of São Paulo architect Isay Weinfeld (b. 1952) reveal the influence of Mies van der Rohe. His dining/conference table made of contrasting woods on chrome legs is $18,558 at Espasso.

“From the beginning of the Modernist movement in the 1920s to the new generation of designers working today, Brazilian furniture occupies a position of importance in the world market,” says Sergio Rodrigues. “It is a pure distillation of Brazilian culture.”

Doris Goldstein is an Art & Antiques correspondent specializing in the decorative arts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Espasso, New York. 212.219.0017. Los Angeles, 310.657.0020. www.espasso.com
Notus, New York. 888.334.0291. www.notusgallery.com
R 20th Century, New York, 212.343.7979. www.r20thcentury.com
Sotheby’s, New York, 212.606.7000. sothebys.com.
Wright, Chicago. 312.563,0020. www.wright20.com
Private Rio, The Great Homes and Gardens by Tomas de Elia (Rizzoli, 2003).