Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table in Hardwood & Glass, Joaquim Tenreiro, c. 1960s

Available today, this Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table made in Rosewood & Glass, Joaquim Tenreiro, c. 1960s is nothing less than spectacular.

Designed by Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992) in the 1940s and produced through the 1950s, this coffee table belongs to the same era as his renowned "Estrutural" pieces, including the iconic dining chairs and dining table.

The coffee table, a testament to Tenreiro's ingenuity, features a wooden sandblasted minimal frame that plays a dual role as both legs and a frame for the glass top. This innovative design not only showcases his mastery of materials but also highlights his ability to create furniture that is both visually striking and highly functional.

Like many of Tenreiro's creations, this elegant coffee table features exceptional fittings and well-crafted components. Tenreiro aimed to counteract the bulky, overstuffed furniture that prevailed in the market, deeming it unsuitable for Brazil's tropical climate. Instead, he championed a design philosophy that emphasized lightness—not merely in weight, but in gracefulness and space efficiency, as he famously stated: ""Lightness, which has nothing to do with the weight per se, but with grace and functionality in space.""

This coffee table is constructed from rosewood and glass and is in excellent condition, with the wood refinished and joints reinforced.

About the designer:
Joaquim Tenreiro was born in Portugal in 1906 but spent most of his life and career in Brazil, where he became one of the country's most celebrated furniture designers. He started his career as a cabinetmaker and set up his own furniture workshop in 1943.

He quickly gained recognition for his innovative designs and his use of traditional Brazilian materials like cane and jacaranda wood. His work was heavily influenced by past furniture-making techniques and emphasized the importance of technical mastery, aesthetic experience, craftsmanship, and cultural context.

He often used clean, simple lines and geometric shapes in his furniture designs, which were a departure from the ornate and heavily decorated pieces that were popular at the time. His work was also notable for its functionality and practicality, as he believed that furniture should be both beautiful and useful. Tenreiro retired from furniture design in the late 1960s to focus on painting and sculpture, but his legacy in furniture design lives on. He died in Itapira, Brazil in 1992 at the age of 86.