Born in Melo, Portugal, Joaquim Tenreiro studied geometric design and painting and learned woodworking from his artisan father, starting at a young age to make furniture. Settling in Brazil, he worked in the furniture factory and interior decoration studio Laubisch & Hirth and at Leandro Martins, until setting up the Langenbach and Tenreiro workshop in 1943. This workshop gave rise to Tenreiro Móveis e Decorações, which it discarded in 1968, when he ended its activities as a designer. Joaquim Tenreiro died at the age of 86 in 1992 in Itapira (SP).