Set of Six Dining Chairs Designed by Edward Wormley for Drexel
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)Depth: 19 in (48.26 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 6
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. These chairs are currently being refinished and reupholstered. The price noted below INCLUDES refinishing in your choice of color and reupholstery in your fabric.
- Seller Location:Atlanta, GA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU87181192580
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Atlanta, GA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Set of Six Dining Chairs Designed by Paul McCobbBy Paul McCobbLocated in Atlanta, GASet of six dining chairs, designed by Paul McCobb for Directional, circa 1950s. This set has been completely restored in an ultra-deep brown lacquer with ivory bouclé upholstery. The...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Harvey Probber Dining Chairs Set of SixBy Harvey ProbberLocated in Atlanta, GASet of six curvaceous dining chairs, designed by Harvey Probber, American, circa 1960s. These chairs are currently being refinished and reuphol...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Cane, Wood
- Elegant X Back Dining Chairs by Councill - Set of SixBy CouncillLocated in Atlanta, GASet of Six Elegant X Back Dining Chairs, made by Councill, American, circa 2000s. They have an elegant X back design and are finished in a high gloss deep brown color finish. These c...Category
Early 2000s American Art Deco Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Set of Six Rattan or Bamboo Dining ChairsLocated in Atlanta, GASet of six rattan or bamboo dining chairs, American, circa 1960s. They retain their warm original patina. This came from an estate with the matchi...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBamboo, Cane, Rattan
- Paul McCobb Dining Chairs Set of Six Refinished & ReupholsteredBy Paul McCobbLocated in Atlanta, GASet of Six Mid Century Dining Chairs, designed by Paul McCobb for Calvin Furniture's Directional Line, American, circa 1950s. These chairs are currently being refinished and reuphols...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Curvaceous Italian Brass or Bronze Dining Chairs Set of SixBy Gio PontiLocated in Atlanta, GASet of Six Curvaceous Italian Brass Dining Chairs, in the manner of Gio Ponti, Italy, circa 1950s. These chairs are currently being reuphols...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Set of Six 239-4 Edward Wormley Precedent by Drexel Dining ChairsBy Edward Wormley, DrexelLocated in Pasadena, TXEdward Wormley designed for Precedent Side Chairs series 239-4 in 1947. Set of 6 dining chairs, solid wood construction, natural finish. D...Category
Vintage 1950s North American Neoclassical Revival Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Set of Six, 1950sBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Houston, TXEdward Wormley, two armchairs, and four side chairs. Dunbar, USA. Mahogany and leather. Signed with applied gold rectangular metal manufacturer's label to the seat bottom [Dunb...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Set of Six #6337 Dining Chairs by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA comfortable set of six dining chairs having gently curved solid wood panel backs and upholstered seats resting on ebonized walnut frames.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- Set of Six Edward Wormley for Dunbar Caned Dining ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Rio Vista, CALabeled set of six mid-century modern caned dining chairs featuring new modern boucle upholstery redux. Iconic chairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar having walnut frames in an angular design with an ebonized finish. The rectangular back has a cane inset...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBouclé, Cane, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Mobilier Universel Set of Six Dining ChairsBy Mobilier Universel, Edward WormleyLocated in Waalwijk, NLEdward Wormley for Dunbar executed by Mobilier Universel, Jules Wabbes, set of six armchairs, lacquered black wood and fabric, Belgium, 1960s. This set of six grand armchairs is exe...Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Set of Six Cane Back Dining Chairs by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn elegant and unusual set of six dining chairs with a cane wrapped barrel back and an upholstered seat atop four slender legs.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMahogany, Upholstery