Upholstered Bench by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, 1950's
View Similar Items
Upholstered Bench by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, 1950's
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 26 in (66.04 cm)Width: 28 in (71.12 cm)Depth: 21 in (53.34 cm)Seat Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950's
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Hoboken, NJ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 12122778061242
Edward Wormley
As the longtime director of design for the Dunbar furniture company, Edward Wormley was, along with such peers as George Nelson at Herman Miller Inc., and Florence Knoll of Knoll Inc., one of the leading forces in bringing modern design into American homes in the mid-20th century. Not an axiomatic modernist, Wormley deeply appreciated traditional design, and consequently his work has an understated warmth and a timeless quality that sets it apart from other furnishings of the era.
Wormley was born in rural Illinois and as a teenager took correspondence courses from the New York School of Interior Design. He later attended the Art Institute of Chicago but ran out of money for tuition before he could graduate. Marshall Field hired Wormley in 1930 to design a line of reproduction 18th-century English furniture; the following year he was hired by the Indiana-based Dunbar, where he quickly distinguished himself. It was a good match.
Dunbar was an unusual firm: it did not use automated production systems; its pieces were mostly hand-constructed. For his part, Wormley did not use metal as a major component of furniture; he liked craft elements such as caned seatbacks, tambour drawers, or the woven-wood cabinet fronts seen on his Model 5666 sideboard of 1956. He designed two lines for Dunbar each year — one traditional, one modern — until 1944, by which time the contemporary pieces had become the clear best sellers.
Many of Wormley’s signature pieces — chairs, sofas, tables and more — are modern interpretations of traditional forms. His 1946 Riemerschmid Chair — an example is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art — recapitulates a late 19th-century German design. The long, slender finials of his Model 5580 dining chairs are based on those of Louis XVI chairs; his Listen-to-Me Chaise (1948) has a gentle Rococo curve; the “Precedent” line that Wormley designed for Drexel Furniture in 1947 is a simplified, pared-down take on muscular Georgian furniture. But he could invent new forms, as his Magazine table of 1953, with its bent wood pockets, and his tiered Magazine Tree (1947), both show. And Wormley kept his eye on design currents, creating a series of tables with tops that incorporate tiles and roundels by the great modern ceramicists Otto and Gertrud Natzler.
As the vintage items on 1stDibs demonstrate, Edward Wormley conceived of a subdued sort of modernism, designing furniture that fits into any decorating scheme and does not shout for attention.
- Edward Wormley Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley bench, legs with Asian influence, cushion straps onto the frame, green label, price includes refinishing and upholstery c.o.m.Category
Vintage 1940s Mid-Century Modern Benches
- Edward Wormley Mahogany Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTAn Edward Wormley for Dunbar upholstered six leg mahogany bench with brass detail.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Brass Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in San Francisco, CASophisticated brass square frame bench designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Very good original condition, Model #5428.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass
- Classic Edward Wormley for Dunbar BenchBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLAn Edward Wormley for Dunbar upholstered (half) and open mahogany (the other half) bench. Brass spacers, original fabric, circa 1970s.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsMahogany
$2,800 Sale Price22% Off - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Bench, 1960By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Bench, 1960. Restored and reupholstered in gray mohair.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsMohair, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Brass Bench #5428By Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYArchitectural rectangular bench in brass square tube with upholstered seat, designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Hand-polished brass, upholstered in a Bergamo brown wool mohair.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass