Joaquim Tenreiro Coffee Table With Five Woods, Brasil, 1950
Barcelona, Spain
£136,403 per item
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Item details
Height
36.0 cm
Width
120.0 cm
Depth
58.0 cm
Wear conditions
Good
Wear conditions
Excellent
Shows little to no signs of wear and tear.
Good
May show slight traces of use in keeping with age. Most vintage and antique items fit into this condition.
Average
Likely to show signs of some light scratching and ageing but still remains in a fair condition.
Apparent Wear and Tear
Visible signs of previous use including scratches, chips or stains.
Please refer to condition report, images or make a seller enquiry for additional information.
Description
Joaquim Tenreiro
Coffee table with five woods
Manufactured by Tenreiro Moveis e Decoraçoes
Brasil, 1950
Five different types of hard wood (jacaranda, imbuir, roxinho, Pau marfim and cobréuva), bonded laminated frame with solid lathed joints
From the archives of Side Gallery, Barcelona
Measurements
120 cm x 58 cm x 36 H cm
47.24 in x 22.83 in x 14.17 H in
Edition
Unique piece
Provenance
Flavio Dumortout de Mendoça, close friend, patron and lawyer of Joaquim Tenreiro
Certificate
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity by Flavio Dumortout´s inheritor
Literature
Soraia Cals, Tenreiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2000
Concept
Forty years before the widespread use of AutoCAD and other computer-aided design programs, Joaquim Tenreiro built his multi-wood series: the “Three-Legged Chair”, the Five Woods low chair” or the “Five Woods cofee table”, a paragon of fluidity and dynamic expression in wood. Stripped of appendages, horizontal rails, and right angles—impediments to the eye—Tenreiro’s cupped seat opens like a parabolic curve in space, suggesting infinite motion. The table´s complex construction transcended conventional methods of joinery and anticipated by a half century the stack-laminated chairs of Julia Krantz and the bonded plywood furniture of contemporary designers like Jeroen Verhoeven. The woodworking son of a woodworker, Tenreiro championed the use of native Brazilian hardwoods, which he combined to expressive effect. In the present lot, his alternation of light and dark specimens further speeds the eye. Comprising solid stacked sections, not veneers applied to a frame, “Five Woods coffee table” triumphantly realizes the modernist maxim that decoration must be intrinsic to form. But Tenreiro’s fluent seat sweeps away the rigid profiles of those icons preceding it: Le Corbusier’s crimped chaise and Alvar Aalto’s molded seat sections. Why summon those spirits? Tenreiro modulated the austere rationalism of European modernism with vernacular Brazilian woodworking traditions and so revitalized his country’s regressive furniture industry. “I have always been restless. What I did was reformulate the dimensions of Brazilian furniture, because it was really uncomfortable. I have defended craftsmanship with all my heart, against the kind of industrialization that debased furniture” (Soraia Cals, Tenreiro, Rio de Janeiro, 1998, p. 32).
Biography
Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992) was among leading furniture designers and visual artists in modernist Brazilian furniture making in the mid-20th century.
A forerunner in the use of rediscovered raw materials as well as the creator of a new formal language in 20th century Brazilian furniture design, he drew on the lessons of past furniture making as a vital source, not only in the mastery of technical and constructive solutions, but also in the aesthetic experience, craftsmanship, and the cultural meaning of his production. His exquisitely crafted pieces evoke a refined coexistence of traditional values and modern aesthetics, strongly bound to the Brazilian cultural milieu.
Born in Portugal to a family with a great tradition in furniture making, he moved to Brazil at the age of 22 and embraced a career as a designer by working at various furniture manufacturers such as Leandro Martins, Francisco Gomes and Laubisch & Hirth. Tenreiro proposed a contemporary language and advocated the idea that Brazilian furniture should be “formally light…A lightness which has nothing to do with weight itself, but with graciousness, and the functionality of spaces.
Condition report:
Good. Wear consistent with age and use.
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Returns
We have a 14-day return guarantee for orders from individual sellers, within the UK and European Union. View full policy.
Free collection available
Yes
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Cancellations and Returns
Last updated: 24th March 2025
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