Our recent post, Vintage furniture — 10 of our favorite midcentury designs and brands inspired Pam to contact Furniture Brands — the folks who produce some of our favorite longtime furniture brand names, including Broyhill, Lane, Drexel Heritage — to see if they had any archived catalogs to share with us vintage furniture loving folks. Sure enough, Lisa Hanly, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, was super receptive and was kind enough to dig through the archives for us. Her first find: These great catalog pages showcasing Broyhill Brasilia and Sculptra furniture. It’s great to see more of these beautiful designs in their native midcentury catalog habitats.
Broyhill Brasilia
Look at this giant master bedroom filled to the brim with Broyhill Brasilia pieces — including a king size headboard. It’s interesting to see how well the bold colors — in this case, red — coordinate with the lines of this furniture design.
Above: The front page of this vintage catalog shows photos of the inspiration for the Brasilia line — the unusual and characteristic architecture found in the city of Brasilia itself in Brazil. Fun fact: Pam has been to Brasilia. In around 1987 — on a business trip to visit Ford operations in South America. She said, “I remember pretty clearly driving into the city. I knew this was a special place. But… I was way too young to truly appreciate it.”
The catalog pages showcase some interesting pieces from the Brasilia dining and living room furniture collection.
I have this buffet base — with the top hutch piece in my dining room! For sure, this is one of our Hall of Fame vintage furniture designs.
That’s a pretty cool dining set.
I had no idea the Brasilia collection had such an array of coffee and end tables.
The Broyhill Brasilia commode above is one of my favorites — I think it was originally meant to go in the living room, but I have two of them that I use as nightstands. I like the enclosed storage they provide.
Broyhill Sculptra
This Broyhill Sculptra bedroom set looks a little less extravagant than the Brasilia setup — oh how I’d love to get my hands on the long dresser and mirror for this set.
There are two variations of the Broyhill Sculptra triple dresser — I’m partial to the one above — with the paneled doors in the center.
This Broyhill Sculptra double dresser is smaller than the triple dresser — a size that may be very appealing to folks with smaller bedrooms.
I have a soft spot for the Broyhill Sculptra Magna dresser because it was the first retro dresser I scored on Craigslist — and let me tell ya — this guy really holds a lot.
There is a wide array of Broyhill Sculptra coffee and side tables to choose from.
This has to be a woddity — a Broyhill Sculptra cigarette table. I had no idea such a thing existed — a special table for cigarettes? Surely a sign of the times.
Mega thanks to Lisa for taking the time to look through the archives to unearth these catalog pages to share with our Retro Renovation Nation. 🙂
MJ says
Been doing my research today because I just scored a 5 piece Sculptra bedroom set wtih dresser/mirror, chest of drawers, night stand and full size bed for….. $185! Wandered into a thrift store about 40 minutes from home and there it was! Just arrived. How lucky can a guy be? Hehehe.
Karen says
Earlier in the year, I found what was labeled as an “Emphasis” dining
set in an antique co-op in southern NH – tall hutch with glass doors, round table with one leaf, and 6 chairs – the chairs do look like those in the first catalog picture in color, at the top of this post. I love the set – it has some wear, particularly on the chairs, but the hutch is in excellent condition. Its scale and wonderful lines are perfect for my 1960’s ranch house.
Thanks for posting all this great Broyhill information, Pam, and also thanks to the posters for information on refreshing and refinishing!
Mrs.FMV says
There is a third collection that rounds out the triumvirate of Broyhill’s Mid Century Modern years….. drum rollllllllll…. Broyhill Saga. One of my personal favorites. Pieces from the suite are adorned with oh so atomic stars on the facades. Sleek, simple profile and dark chocolate colored walnut wood. Once you get a glimpse of this, you will fall in love. http://furnishmevintage.com/?s=saga&x=0&y=0
Rebecca@MidcenturyModernRemodelw says
No way! Thanks for sharing.
Brenda says
I just today purchased a Broyhill Premier bedroom set. The labeling did not say ‘Saga’ inside the drawer, but after looking at the link you sent from Furnish Me Vintage…it IS the set I purchased for $750 (including delivery!) The set features a full size bed (headboard, foot board, side rails), long dresser with mirror (the mirror also has the atomic star etched in it), nightstand, and tall chest. My deal wasn’t as good as the guy who bought a set at a thrift store for $185, but I think I got a good deal nonetheless. The Furnish Me Vintage price for each piece would have been a lot more, I am quite sure.
A Modern Line says
I love the Brasilia line and all the other Premere series that Broyhill put out on the 60’s. I’ve had a hard time selling full chinas and have no problem selling the bases, so I’ve devised a solution. I took one of the china tops and converted to a really nice curio with some 14″ legs refinished to match and it looks great and has had loads of attention. A real one of a kind display piece!
samantha says
I have the Dining Room Table and Buffet. It is so heavy!
Pamela H. says
I want to live in that house….
Christa says
I picked up my Scluptra sideboard (shown in the article’s first photo, with a giant hutch on top) at the thrift about a year ago, for just $15. It was a little scratched on top, but Restore-a-Finish was the perfect product to easily make it lovely again. It fits in our mid-century-inspired living room perfectly, and has wound up being the perfect storage for art supplies 🙂
Kate says
wow what a deal Christa!
Erin says
Broyhill Brasilia — my very first auction experience! About 6 years ago, my husband and I (newlyweds) attended an auction together. It was the first time I had ever been to an auction, and as we previewed the goods, I saw a Broyhill Brasilia dining set (6 chairs, rectangular table with a leaf, and buffet with glass doored lighted display case top). I pointed it out to my hubby as an example of the midcentury style I loved so much. He, too, really liked it. I said to him “I’m sure this will be sold as a set and will go for over $800. Sigh. We don’t have that much room or that much money.” I had absolutely no intention of bidding.
The auctioneer started the bidding around $50 (for the set!), and it became clear that the attendees were not midcentury fans as the bids CREPT up to $130. Nothing was happening. I was baffled, my heart was racing, I looked at my husband, and he gave me the “go for it” smile. It was just me vs. one other guy (who turned out to be an antiques dealer with a heart). The bidding ended at $165, and we went home feeling quite high from the experience!
It was ours. The whole set. For only $165.
My husband still loves telling that story. He tells how he observed the antiques dealer watching me during the bidding. He says he knows that the dealer “let me have it” because he could see how excited I was and how happy it made me.
Kate says
What a great story Erin — I think that is also part of the joy of having vintage furniture. There is always a story — maybe you got it at an auction, maybe it was your grandmothers, etc. Vintage furniture is not only full of personality, but also full of stories. 🙂
Rebecca@MidCenturyModernRemodel says
What a deal! Sounds like a good deal on the husband too.
Carolyn says
I love this story!
Robert says
In the Broyhill Brasilia they show two twins put together. My parents had two twins put together like that under a long headboard.
Rebecca@MidCenturyModernRemodel says
These original catalog pages are very interesting. The bold red, purple and orange used in decorating are thought provoking as well. I kept thinking my mom’s bedroom set was something from Broyhill because it looked so similar. Then after a careful investigation, I realized it was a shirt tail relative. 🙂 . All of it is so pretty and so classic. Here are some pictures of a Lenoir bedroom set. http://www.midcenturymodernremodel.com/2012/07/lenoir-house-bedroom-furniture-division.html
Kate says
That’s very cool Rebecca! I love the pulls on your bedroom set. I think you are right — they must be related.