A trained painter and son of a cabinetmaker, Joaquim Tenreiro began designing furniture in the 1940s. By 1943 he had started his own furniture design company, opening offices in Rio de Janeiro and Copacabana, and, due to the increasing success of his designs, he opened another shop in 1953 in São Paolo. By the end of the 1950s, Tenreiro was employing about 100 craftsmen to construct his designs. The success of the business was evident among Brazilians, but the recognition and growing size of the company led to turmoil, resulting in its closing in the 1960s. Tenreiro turned his focus back to art, though with an emphasis on sculpting wood, using the same distinctly modern design sensibilities in these works as he had with his furniture, earning him the title Sculptor of the Year in 1978 by the Association of Art Crititics of Paulista, São Paolo. Among the greatest of the Brazilian modernist designers, his work was defined by the structural simplicity and brilliant engineering evidenced in the present screen.

The present lot is one of two known examples of this particular screen design; both were privately commissioned by their respective owners, Sonia Schainberg and her sister.