Edward Wormley Book Case Designed for Dunbar, circa 1953
About the Item
- Creator:Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer),Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 31.75 in (80.65 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)Depth: 11.5 in (29.21 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1953
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Excellent condition.
- Seller Location:Camden, ME
- 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 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: Camden, ME
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Edward Wormley Extension Walnut Dining Table for Dunbar, circa 1953By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Camden, MEAn Edward Wormley walnut extension dining table designed for Dunbar in the early 1950s. The dark walnut base sets on four leather cased feet contrasts with the walnut top which is a ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Edward Wormley Sideboard Model 671 A for Dunbar Custom Order 1953By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Camden, MEAn Edward Wormley walnut and Japanese fir sideboard , model 671A for Dunbar, circa 1953. A rare exquisite Japanese inspired walnut cabinet with two drawers with cast bronze pulls and...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsWalnut, Paper
- Edward Wormley Pair of Nightstands Precedent Line Drexel, 1950s / 1960sBy Edward Wormley, DrexelLocated in Camden, MEEdward Wormley pair of nightstands for the Precedent collection by Drexel, circa 1947 The pair of silver elm nightstands have been refinished in a blac...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Edmond Spence Drop Front Desk for Industria Mueblera S. A. Mexico, c. 1955By Edmond J. Spence, Industria Mueblera MexicoLocated in Camden, MEEdmond Spence two piece drop front desk with a matched bookcase manufactured in Mexico by Industria Meublera S.A. in the late 1950s or early 1960s. An interesting blend of design inf...Category
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsBrass
- Edmond Spence Mahogany Coffee Table for Industria Mueblara, Mexico 1953By Edmond J. SpenceLocated in Camden, MEA mahogany cocktail table with with brass filigree straps, carved block details and elegantly arched legs designed by Edmond Spence and manufactured in Mexico in the mid-1950s. This table is part of Edmund Spence's Industria Mueblara line of elegant Mexican modern furniture...Category
20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Edmond Spence Mahogany Dining Table Designed for Industria Mueblera, circa 1958By Edmond J. Spence, Industria Mueblera MexicoLocated in Camden, MEAn extraordinary extendable mahogany dining table by Edmund Spence manufactured by Industria Mueblera in Mexico in the 1950s. The cast metalwork is gold leafed. The table has Edmund...Category
Vintage 1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Cabinet 6026 by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXBeautiful and very elegant cabinet model # 6026 designed by Edward Wormely for Dunbar. This cabinet was purchased for the Neptune Gift Shop in New Jersey in 1963 and is constructed o...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- #6027 Edward Wormley for Dunbar Super Structure Display CabinetBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Pasadena, TXEdward Wormley for Dunbar Super Structure display cabinet Stunning cabinet constructed of dark walnut with a brass plated plinth base. Concave fron...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid-Century Model 5264 Shelf BookcaseBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid-century model 5264 shelf bookcase. This bookcase measures: 48 wide x 14.25 deep x 74.25 inches high. All pieces of furniture can be had in what we...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- Dunbar Bookcase Wall Units by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILPair of bookcases designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, circa 1960. Fully restored. Espresso stained mahogany, glass shelves, and brass details. Glass shelves can be arranged as nee...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Dunbar Banded Mahogany Stepped Bookcase 1960sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Forest Grove, PAA well made and designed bookcase by Edward Wormley for Dunbar and sold by Pioneer Furniture Company, "Detroit's Finest Furniture Store". The bookcase features a subtle stepped silh...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley Midcentury Magazine Rack for Dunbar in Brass and Wood Brown, 1950By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Milano, ITA timeless Classic. The Dunbar production relies on designer Edward Wormley to design this elegant magazine rack, which at the same time serves as a cabinet or coffee table. The pec...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass