Edward Wormley Furniture
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.
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Plastic, Paper
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Leather, Mahogany
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Rosewood, Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Velvet, Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Upholstery, Mahogany
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Wood, Walnut
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Fabric, Wood, Walnut
20th Century American Other Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Upholstery, Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Rosewood, Mahogany
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Textile
1960s American Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Bouclé, Mahogany
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Upholstery, Wood
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Leather, Walnut
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Upholstery, Mahogany
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Leather, Wood
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Leather, Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Wood
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Upholstery, Walnut, Velvet
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Fabric, Textile, Wood
Late 20th Century American Other Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Cane, Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Chrome
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Leather, Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Fabric
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Ash
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mohair
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Travertine
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1960s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut
1960s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Leather, Wood
1960s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Edward Wormley Furniture
Upholstery, Walnut
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut
1970s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Cane, Mahogany
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Walnut, Mahogany
1950s Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Fabric
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Mahogany
1950s American Vintage Edward Wormley Furniture
Travertine
Edward Wormley furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Creators Similar to Edward Wormley
- 1stDibs ExpertAugust 8, 2024Edward Wormley used a variety of materials over the course of his career. Among them were laminated wood, brass, marble and silk. Not an axiomatic modernist, Wormley deeply appreciated traditional design, and consequently, his vintage seating, storage cabinets, bar carts and other work have an understated warmth and a timeless quality that sets them apart from other furnishings of the era. On 1stDibs, explore a diverse assortment of Edward Wormley furniture.