Tambour Drum Cabinet by Edward Wormley
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 27 in (68.58 cm)Diameter: 21 in (53.34 cm)
- 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.
- Seller Location:Sagaponack, 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.
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: Sagaponack, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Drop Tambour Front Cabinet by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn innovative and uncommon drop tambour front cabinet of bleached walnut having recessed finger pulls, the cabinet with drawers, shelves and vert...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut
- Magazine Table by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA triangular ash table with an inset cream leather top over two web strap magazine holders.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsAsh, Leather
- End Table by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA fine and uncommon pair of end tables having sculptural exposed frames in stained mahogany and expressive floating tops of molded birch with upturned edges.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsMahogany, Birch
- End Table by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA tailored two-level square end or lamp table in walnut having splayed tapering legs.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood
- Triangular Table by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA geometrically pure and finely detailed two-tiered table in bleached walnut of triangular form with distinctive beveled edging at a 45 degree angle.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Corner End Table by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA unique oak corner end table with built in magazine / book racks.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsOak
- Server Bar by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Asbury Park, NJA multifunctional walnut bar cart on casters by Edward Wormley for Dunbar– Model 5433. The cabinet has two cedar shelves which can be adjusted up or down. One drawer above the cabine...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
- Edward Wormley Party Server for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILThe Edward Wormley bar cart is a timeless piece of furniture that embodies both style and function. It is a versatile piece that is perfect for entertaining guests or simply enjoying...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
MaterialsWalnut, Pine
- Large Bar Cabinet by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA large scale mahogany cabinet with brass hardware designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. This massive chest has locking bar / bottle storage along with a...Category
Vintage 1950s Dry Bars
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Pedestal Table/ Bar with KeyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLCustom Dunbar table designed by Edward Wormley. Featuring a faceted front with locking door. Inside reveals an adjustable height shelf, and the door has a storage cubby, ideal for a ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
MaterialsBurl
- Mid-Century Modern Bar Cart Edward Wormley for Dunbar C1953By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Port Jervis, NYFabulous bar cart/server with a drop down top which is 27 inches and 54 when raised, shelves for bottles, cupboard for glasses and other necessities. Model # 5433 created out of waln...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
MaterialsBrass
- Tambour Door Cabinet by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Model 959By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Brooklyn, NYA chic and versatile cabinet with blond tamowood top and burnt almond walnut tambour doors on a dark mahogany case. Nice details like the razor-thin brass door pulls, and dappled var...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut