Dunbar Snack Table Floor Lamp, Model 4856, Designed by Edward Wormley
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 56 in (142.24 cm)Diameter: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1948
- Condition:9.5 out of 10. Ready to place.
- Seller Location:Hanover, MA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU886618270952
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: Hanover, MA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Model 3374 Square Cocktail TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Hanover, MALate 1950s Edward Wormley for Dunbar model number 3374 square walnut cocktail table with distinctive three-sided legs and black micarta to...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsFormica, Walnut
- Samson Berman Studio Floor Lamp with Integrated TableBy Samson BermanLocated in Hanover, MACustom-made very grand scale (at 7 feet 6 inches tall) and sculptural walnut wood floor lamp with integrated side table from the Flushing, NY studios of Samson Berman...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsAluminum, Brass
- Lucite Stacked Block Floor Lamp with Side TableBy Karl SpringerLocated in Hanover, MAVintage lucite helix-form stacked blocks floor lamp with a 15 inch square lucite table top at 23 inches high. Chrome fittings. Stepped three tier lucite s...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsLucite
- Vintage Tapered Brass Floor Lamp with Integrated Glass TableLocated in Hanover, MAThis is the sexiest one of these lamp tables I've ever seen. Note the quality of the double inverted and elongated tapered cones which form the stem. Where they intersect is the round glass disk table surface. The weighted base is made of copper. The original cylindrical parchment drum shade is embellished with dried flowers and pressed butterflies...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
- Pair of Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce Monza Floor Lamps Model #12634By Arredoluce, Angelo LeliiLocated in Hanover, MAAngelo Lelii (not Lelli) for Arredoluce Monza brass stem floor lamp with white round marble base, original Arredoluce brass floor switch. Five scrolled arms with brass bun shaped lam...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMarble, Brass
- Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce Model 12128 Triennale Floor Lamp Brass & WhiteBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Hanover, MAArredoluce "Triennale" solid brass floor lamp model 12128 designed by Angelo Lelii in 1947, produced in 1954. One owner. 100% original. Nothing replaced nor added. Fully functioning....Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsAluminum, Brass
- Rare Edward Wormley Lamp Table by DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Highland, INThis table lamp by Edward Wormley is an exceedingly rare variation on the model 5410 by Dunbar. The model 5410 was produced with a couple base variations, but this example has severa...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Lamp Table for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYThis stylish Mid-Century Modern Dunbar lamp table features rich mahogany finish, dovetailed drawers, and uniquely sculpted single drawer design. Unique drawer pull and raised edge st...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Side Table Model # 5425By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYOccasional table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, model 5425. Rosewood and Walnut folding x-base with removable mahogany tray top. Labeled with Dunbar gold metal tagCategory
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsRosewood, Mahogany
- Dunbar Magazine Table by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXTriangular magazine table model 5313 by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Table consists of two mahogany magazine bins, sap grain walnut top with mahogany base, ...Category
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Pair Edward Wormley for Dunbar Side Tables, Model 279By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYRare and sophisticated lamp tables in dark stained mahogany. The simple, architectural configuration is surprisingly contemporary for a 70 year old design. Original finish, with rect...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Large Tulip Lamp TableBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLAn elegant and unusual lamp table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Ash pedestal, chrome petals, and rosewood feet. Very good vintage condition with exceptionally minimal wear. Inconsi...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsChrome