Namoradeira

One of the most visionary figures in Brazilian design, José Zanine Caldas was entirely self-taught. Born in Caravelas, Bahia, he began as a carpenter before becoming the conscience of ecological design in South America. In the 1950s he founded Zantena, producing furniture in moulded plywood. By the 1970s his practice had shifted toward radical reverence for raw timber — reclaimed, carved, and shaped entirely by hand. Zanine believed that furniture was architecture at human scale and that the hand of the maker was never to be disguised.

His Namoradeira — literally "the chair chair of the lovers" — is among the most iconic forms in 20th-century Brazilian design. This example, solid carved wood, signed by the artist, from the 1970s, is a unique and rare piece. His work is held in the collections of MoMA New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), and the Museu de Arte de São Paulo.