Pair of Edward Wormley Rosewood and Walnut Chests
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 39.75 in (100.97 cm)Width: 34 in (86.36 cm)Depth: 21 in (53.34 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Mid-20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
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: Long Island City, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Pair of Edward Wormley Mid-Century Walnut and Leather 7-Drawer ChestsBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYPAIR of American Mid-Century 7-drawer chests with walnut veneer, and drawers in graduating size with thin plywood drawer pulls on the sides of each drawer front, resting on a brown l...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Furniture Co. Walnut Low Chest of DrawersBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century walnut low chest of drawers with three sets of four drawers, one set wider and central, flanked on either side by two narrower sets of drawers. (EDWARD WORMLEY F...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Dark Walnut Louver Front 6-Drawer Commode / ChestBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century 6-drawer walnut louver front commode / chest with a dark stained lacquered finish. (Edward Wormley for Dunbar Furniture Company...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Maple Louver Front ChestBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century maple louver front chest with 6 drawers in descending size. (EDWARD WORMLEY FOR DUNBAR FURNITURE COMPANY)Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley American Mid-Century Eight Drawer Wooden ChestBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century eight-drawer chest with a dark stained wooden case. (EDWARD WORMLEY)Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood
- Edward J Wormley for Dunbar Furniture Walnut Chifferobe / Dressing CabinetBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century walnut chifferobe / dressing cabinet with a central section with 9 drawers descending in size from top to bottom, flanked on either side by two door cabinets, with a central lid that opens upward to reveal a concealed mirror and a beige painted interior. (EDWARD J WORMLEY FOR DUNBAR...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood, Mirror, Walnut
- Pair of Leather and Walnut Chests Designed by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTA pair of chests in walnut with leather wrapped baseboards and blond handles. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, circa 1955.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWalnut
- Low Chest in Walnut by Edward WormleyBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA beautiful low chest by Edward Wormley for Dunbar ca' 1960's. Walnut with excellent graining, floating long rosewood handles with a sculpted design, brass sabots. The cabinet's back...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsRosewood, Walnut
- Chest of Drawers by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn elegantly austere and finely crafted chest of drawers in bleached walnut having a two-over-three configuration channelled recessed pulls and dowel-form legs crafted of anodized al...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsAluminum
- Restored Pair of Chests by Edward Wormley, circa 1947By Edward Wormley, DrexelLocated in Atlanta, GAA beautiful pair of Modern chests by Edward Wormley for Drexel, circa 1947. Expertly constructed in silver elm and finished in cream lacquer. The functional size and scale allow for ...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar Chest of Drawers, NightstandsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXBeautifully crafted chest of drawers by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. These are mahogany and feature 5 drawers, 2 smaller than the other three. Make great n...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsMahogany
- 1960's Pair of Vintage Chests by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in London, GBA magnificent pair of vintage chests, these were made in the USA by Dunbar furniture, they were designed by Edward Wormley. Edward Wormley was one of the leading pioneers of mid-cen...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood
