José Zanine Caldas

José Zanine Caldas began his career as a model-maker for modernist Brazilian architects Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, among others, and eventually became a prolific self-taught architect.  In the mid-1950s, he was among the pioneers in promoting industrial production in the furniture industry by creating an affordable line of plywood furniture,  Móveis Z.

Zanine spent time in Nova Viçosa in Bahia in the late 1960s and was greatly influenced by the local craftsmen and ecological conditions.  From that time on, he became a strong advocate of land management and ecological preservation, and he combined his interest in natural resources with his design.  “When I see those huge pieces of timber thrown away or burned,” he stated, “I take the raw lumber and I transform it into full-sized pieces of furniture” (Ver Zanine, p. 77).  These massive, hand-sculpted works are thus raw in their appearance and limited in number. 

Although other ''Namoradeira'' rockers are typically made of several pieces of wood joined together, the lot offered here is chiseled out of a single, massive trunk.  Designed for two people to sit facing each other, the name alludes to the flirtatious overtones inherent in the rocker.