Woven Front Cabinet by Edward Wormley
View Similar Items
Woven Front Cabinet by Edward Wormley
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 41.5 in (105.41 cm)Depth: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c. 1954
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. Very good condition. Wood has been recently refinished and brass polished.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 33 EW 051stDibs: LU785632829482
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.
- Edward Wormley ChairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in New York, NYNo. 5482 Armchair by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Mahogany, brass and fabric. Fantastic model with floating seat and padded armrests.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
$8,600 - Wall Mounted 2-Door Cabinet by Carlo de CarliBy Carlo De CarliLocated in New York, NYMahogany, blue tinted mirror, brass. 2 interior shelves that can be adjusted & original brass key. Wood has recently been refinished. 2 more additio...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass
- George Nakashima CabinetBy George NakashimaLocated in New York, NYSliding Door Cabinet by George Nakashima. American black walnut, oak, brass. This cabinet features an overhanging top with a long free-edge. 3 sliding doors with 2 side compartments ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
$125,000 - Osvaldo Borsani CabinetBy Osvaldo Borsani, Arredamenti BorsaniLocated in New York, NYDrinks Cabinet, Model No. 6534B by Osvaldo Borsani for ABV. Mahogany, painted wood, maple, glass, brass. Arredamenti Borsani Varedo edition. This cabinet features 2 front doors that retract into the cabinet revealing a lit interior with mirrored back, 2 glass shelves, 1 pull out wood shelf and 4 lower drawers. Door front painting by Marcello Piccardo.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
$65,000 - Roberto Rida CabinetBy Roberto Giulio RidaLocated in New York, NYStelle Marine, unique cabinet by Roberto Giulio Rida. Spectacular six-door cabinet covered in textured, silver-mirrored glass panels. Three sides inset with vintage Murano glass flowers...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsGlass
$29,000 - Pair of Mahogany Side Chests by Jules Wabbes for Mobilier UniverselBy Jules Wabbes, Mobilier UniverselLocated in New York, NYMahogany, black laminate, chrome-plated steel. 3-drawer chests mounted into steel structures with custom steel drawer pulls. A truly iconic Belgian design. *2nd matching pair available.Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Woven Front Cabinet by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Expertly RestoredBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Kansas City, MOMahogany storage cabinet with woven sliding doors and drawers designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. The two sliding doors have fronts woven with thin pieces of mahogany and nickel p...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsNickel
- Drop Tambour Front Cabinet by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Woven Front CabinetBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA large mahogany cabinet with woven bleached rosewood sliding doors on brass legs. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany
- Janus Cabinet by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn rectilinear light walnut two-door cabinet having Chinese-influenced hardware and open and adjustable shelves, the form sitting on a plinth base.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
$11,500 / item - Janus Cabinet by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn elegant rectilinear light walnut two-door cabinet having Chinese-influenced hardware and a rare configuration of twelve cushioned flat drawers.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Dunbar Woven Front Chest, Mahogany, Brushed Nickel, SignedBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in New York, NYEdward Wormely for Dunbar woven front chest, mahogany and brushed nickel, signed. Medium scale commode, No. 4465, with two woven front sliding doors, two top exterior drawers and a f...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsNickel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Kaleidoscopic Upholstery Makes This Edward Wormley Chair a Showstopper
What at first glance seems an unusual choice jibes perfectly with the designer's aesthetic.
Mid-Century Master Osvaldo Borsani Gets His Due at Donzella
The New York City gallery has devoted its latest show to the work of the modernist Italian designer.