1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar 4872a Lounge Chair With Solid Aluminum Legs
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 28.5 in (72.39 cm)Depth: 34 in (86.36 cm)Seat Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use. Newer upholstery, within the last 5 years, showing some light wear and pilling. New foam is in great condition. Aluminum legs showing tarnish and scratches commensurate with age and use.
- Seller Location:Virginia Beach, VA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU8979236765702
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 vintage seating, storage cabinets, bar carts and other 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.
Dunbar Furniture
Revered for its handcrafted and highly collectible mid-century modern sofas, coffee tables and other furnishings, Dunbar Furniture was founded in 1910 in Berne, Indiana, but it didn’t gain widespread recognition until the ’30s, following the introduction of its president to a designer who would leave an indelible mark on the company’s legacy: Edward Wormley.
After a stint at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Oswego, Illinois-born Wormley worked as an interior designer for Marshall Field’s before joining Dunbar in 1931. Initially focused on developing the company’s cheapest furniture line, which could be bought with soap coupons, he was soon leading Dunbar Furniture into a new era of residential furniture for modern American homes. He would serve as the company’s design director for over three decades, designing about 150 pieces each year.
During that time, he oversaw the production of designs in a wide range of materials, with influences ranging from Scandinavian modernism to Art Deco. There were modern upholstery pieces, like swiveling lounge chairs and low-slung sofas, and experiments with textural wood on bar carts and cabinets as well as minimal, sculptural tables and functional office furniture. A passionate collector of Tiffany Studios lamps, Wormley used their glass tiles in Dunbar tables in 1956. He also worked on the reproduction of pieces by designers such as Jean-Michel Frank and Richard Riemerschmid.
One standout Dunbar Furniture collection was Janus, introduced in the 1960s, with Austrian-born ceramicists Otto and Gertrud Natzler. These pieces see the Natzlers’ uniquely artful ceramic tiles set into several styles of wooden tables. They remain some of the most sought-after mid-century modern Dunbar pieces on the vintage market today. During the peak of his design career and, indeed, the height of Dunbar Furniture’s history, Wormley amassed a whopping 30 Good Design awards between 1950 and 1955 through the “Good Design” exhibition, hosted by the Chicago Merchandise Mart and the Museum of Modern Art. Dunbar today produces a limited selection of archival Wormley designs, but many sales of original Dunbar pieces are through the resale market.
Find a collection of authentic vintage Dunbar Furniture today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Virginia Beach, VA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar Oversized Chair & Ottoman Brass legs Red MohairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Virginia Beach, VAAn extra wide cuddle sofa chair designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Featuring brass legs and new foam and red mohair. The red mohair is accentuated wi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar pair of leather lounge chairs no. 603 Mrs. ChairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Virginia Beach, VAA pair of leather lounge chairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar vintage from the 1950s. These chairs are model 603 and were called the Mrs. Chair in the original catalogue. Hig...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Pair of 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar Cane back Chairs model 5700aBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Virginia Beach, VAPair of 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar Cane back Chairs model 5700a. The continuous laminated ash legs wrap around the entire chair and form t...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBouclé, Mahogany
- 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar model 495 sofa in gray velvet and mahogany legsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Virginia Beach, VAA 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar model 495 sofa recently reupholstered in gray velvet and dark mahogany sculpted legs. Dunbar construction is unparalleled and this sofa is ready to ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsVelvet, Mahogany
- 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar Bracket Back Sofa, Blush Velvet and mahoganyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Virginia Beach, VAA rare variation of the bracket back sofa by Edward Wormley for Dunbar Furniture company of Berne Indiana circa 1950s. This A-frame bracket is similar to the designs of Jens Risom, t...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsVelvet, Mahogany
- 1950s "La Gondola" Sofa by Edward Wormley for Dunbar Belgian Linen and GoatskinBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Virginia Beach, VAA 1950s La Gondola Sofa designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. This sofa with a solid mahogany bracket back, exaggerated curved arms, and floating open back is a true masterwork. The...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsGoatskin, Linen, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar 4872A Mid Century Brass Leg Lounge Chairs - PairBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar 4872A Mid Century Brass Leg Lounge Chairs - Pair Each lounge chair measures: 28.5 wide x 34 deep x 32.5 high, with a seat height of 17 and arm height/chair...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Pair Edward Wormley Lounge chairs model 4872A for Dunbar, 1948. Gray, Brass LegsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Kansas City, MOBeautiful pair of lounge chairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, 1948. Expertly reupholstered in a light gray wool blend fabric. The original legs are made of solid brass. T...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Tufted Lounge Chair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn armless button tufted lounge chair of generous proportion having exposed walnut base. Model: 5000.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Swivel Chair, C. 1950sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Westport, CTA swivel lounge chair designed by the iconic Edward Wormely for Dunbar Furniture, circa 1950-1959. Completely restored, fitted with new high-grade hand cut foam with all insides full...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Mahogany
- Edward J. Wormley Lounge Chair and Ottoman circa 1950s for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward J. Wormley lounge chair and ottoman for Dunbar circa 1950s on solid brass castors. The lounge chair has a trapezoid shape, wider in the front (27.5" W) and tapers to the back....Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- 1950s Lounge Chair and Ottoman by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA Mid-Century Modern high-back chair and ottoman set designed by Edward Wormley featuring mahogany bases and original orange upholstery. Made by Dunbar in the USA, circa 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany