Edward Wormley Tete-a-Tete Sofa for Dunbar in Green Velvet & Mahogany
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Edward Wormley Tete-a-Tete Sofa for Dunbar in Green Velvet & Mahogany
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 28 in (71.12 cm)Width: 81 in (205.74 cm)Depth: 28 in (71.12 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1959
- Condition:Refinished. Reupholstered. Please note: This fabric has naturally occurring striations on the velvet that run perpendicular to the length of the material adding some visual movement to the piece.
- Seller Location:Dallas, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU878527322192
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.
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Even Arm Sofa or SetteesBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXTwo-piece Dunbar sofa model number 4908 designed by Edward Wormley. This low profile sofa has down-filled cushions and hand-tied springs and is one of the most comfortable modern pie...Category
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- Edward Wormley Dunbar Oasis Sofas in Ivory Boucle Early First Generation 1930sBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXThe price listed is per sofa. This is a rare first edition Oasis Sofa designed by Edward Wormley and created in the 1930s when he first began his tenure at the Dunbar furniture company of Berne Indiana. The Oasis sofa is not only a historically significant piece of twentieth-century design history, but it is also undeniably elegant and most importantly, extremely comfortable. This is an heirloom quality hand-built sofa crafted with a solid hardwood frame that has been professionally restored to the highest possible standard. The complete restoration included all new foam, reinforcing the frame, re-working the eight-way hand-tied springs, upholstering with new high-performance Italian boucle material, and refinishing the solid mahogany legs. These sofas are almost 100 years old and are now ready for another 100 years of enjoyment. This era of design was significant for Wormley because it marked his style as a more formal brand of modernism, re-imagining classic forms while removing the unnecessary carvings and embellishments to give them a more modern, 20th-century appeal. As rare as these sofas are we were miraculously able to source a matching pair. They have both been restored to the same specifications and are a perfect mirrored pair. The price listed is for EACH sofa, but, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a pair of one of the most prestigious classic modern designer sofas...Category
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$4,800 / set - Edward Wormley Nightstands for Dunbar in Walnut with Mahogany Frame Ebony PullsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXThese extraordinarily beautiful and generously proportioned nightstands were designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar and manufactured in the 1960s. Bookmatched American walnut woodgra...Category
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- Edward Wormley Slipper Sofa for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Denton, TXEdward Wormley slipper sofa for Dunbar with off white upholstery and ebonized bentwood legs. Older restoration.Category
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- Edward Wormley Open Frame Sofa, Dunbar, USA, 1950sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in London, GBA very rare two-seat Edward Wormley open frame sofa, made by Dunbar, in the USA, 1950s. Newly reupholstered in high quality fabric. Fast shipping worldwide.Category
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- Edward Wormley Sofa Model 4906, Dunbar, USA, 1950sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in London, GBAn original Edward Wormley Model 4906 sofa, made by Dunbar in the USA, 1950s. Fast shipping worldwide.Category
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- Edward Wormley for Dunbar model 5316 SofaBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA rare model 5316 sofa designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar in 1953. Floating back with exposed mahogany frame. Fully restored and upholstered in Holly Hunt / Vladimir / Silver Fog ...Category
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- Dunbar Tete a Tete Sofa by Edward Wormley, 1960By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILDunbar Tete a Tete Sofa by Edward Wormley, 1960. Newly reupholstered in a beautiful cut velvet. Tete a Tete is also on casters. Measures 91" long, 2...Category
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- Janus Corner Sofa Designed by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTA Janus Collection corner sofa produced by Dunbar and designed by Edward Wormley. Model 629A. Upholstered in Rogers and Goffigon fabric.Category
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