Edward Wormley for Dunbar Style Mid Century Arm Chair
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley for Dunbar Style Mid Century Arm Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Similar to:Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 32 in (81.28 cm)Depth: 31 in (78.74 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Unknown
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Countryside, IL
- Reference Number:Seller: 2020-51811stDibs: LU5408223577232
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.
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Mahogany Dining Chairs, Set of 8By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid century Mahogany dining chairs - set of 8 Each armless chair measures: 20 wide x 20 deep x 33 high, with a seat height of 17 inches Each captains ch...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Lounge Chair with Jack Lenor Larsen FabricBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid century lounge chair with Jack Lenor Larsen Fabric This chair measures: 24 wide x 30.5 deep x 30.75 high, with a seat height of 16 and arm height/cha...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Upholstery, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century NightstandBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century nightstand This nightstand measures: 23 wide x 18 deep x 23.75 inches high All pieces of furniture can b...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsBrass
- Dunbar Mid Century Occasional Lounge ChairBy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILDunbar Mid Century Occasional Lounge Chair This chair measures: 25.25 wide x 25.75 deep x 31.5 high, with a seat height of 17 and arm height of 2...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Slipper Lounge Chairs, PairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century slipper lounge chairs, Pair Each chair measures 23 wide x 32 deep x 32 high with a seat h...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Lounge Chair and OttomanBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid century lounge chair and ottoman The lounge chair measures: 27 wide x 30 deep x 39 high, with a seat height of 17 inches and arm height of 23 inches ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- 'A-Frame' Chair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA Mid-Century Modern Classic 'A-Frame' armchair with a woven caned backrest, upholstered black leather seat and brass capped feet. Designed by Edward Wormley, produced by Dunbar in t...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Captain's "Y" Chair, ca. 1955By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Costa Mesa, CAEdward Wormley for Dunbar Captain's "Y" chair, ca. 1955. Professionally restored walnut frame with new back caning and new upholstered seat with super soft and luxurious ivory wool f...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
$3,600 Sale Price20% Off - Edward Wormley for Dunbar "A" Frame Arm ChairBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar "A" Frame Arm Chair, Horseshoe curved back with original leather-covered armrests, solid mahogany frame, brass exposed screws...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley Desk Arm Chair for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley Desk / Arm Chair for Dunbar. Model # 1170. Model Name: QuinnCategory
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWood
- Mahogany Armchair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dorchester, MAEdward Wormley designed this handsome mahogany armchair for Dunbar, juxtaposing modern linearity with curvaceous classic form. It has been expertly reupholstered in Knoll's Rivington...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Midcentury "Quinn" Chair by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Model 1170, Walnut + WoolBy Edward Wormley, Gunlocke, Jens Risom, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Decatur, GA"Quinn" chair, Model no. 1170 by Edward Wormley for Dunbar circa 1965. Sculpted walnut arms transition seamlessly to the upholstered back creating a wonderful silhouette. Frame is so...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWool, Upholstery, Walnut