Edward Wormley Dining Chairs for Dunbar, circa 1957
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley Dining Chairs for Dunbar, circa 1957
About the Item
- Creator:Dunbar Furniture (Maker),Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.25 in (76.84 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)Depth: 22.25 in (56.52 cm)Seat Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1957
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. This set has been professionally restored. The Upholstry is Holly Hunt Boucle. The listed price is for the set.
- Seller Location:Costa Mesa, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU922015929782
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 5499 Lounge Chairs for Dunbar, United States, c.1960By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Costa Mesa, CAEdward Wormley 5499 Lounge Chairs for Dunbar, United States, c.1960. This pair has been expertly restored in New Old Stock Orinoka Mills Fabric originally specified by Dunbar. Each...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Hans Wegner AP-19 Papa Bear Chair in for A.P. Stolen, Denmark, circa 1952By Hans J. Wegner, A.P. StolenLocated in Costa Mesa, CAHans Wegner AP-19 papa bear chair for A.P. Stolen, Denmark, circa 1952. This piece has been expertly restored in Kravet Couture tan & gray wool upholstery. A.P. Stolen Makers stamp t...Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wool, Teak
- David Cressey & Robert Maxwell Planter for Earthgender, circa 1970By Robert Maxwell and David Cressey, Robert Maxwell, David CresseyLocated in Costa Mesa, CADavid Cressey & Robert Maxwell Planter for Earthgender, circa 1970.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Planters and Jardinieres
MaterialsCeramic
- Early Finn Juhl Bench for Bovirke, Denmark, circa 1953By Finn Juhl, BovirkeLocated in Costa Mesa, CAEarly Finn Juhl Bench for Bovirke, Denmark, circa 1953. New Expertly Upholstered Cushion in Kravet Couture Green Wool Fabric. Makers Mark to the Bott...Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass, Steel
- Stuart Barnes Brass Table Lamps for Robert Long, circa 1970By Stuart Barnes, Robert LongLocated in Costa Mesa, CAStuart Barnes brass table lamps for Robert Long, circa 1970. This pair was handcrafted at the Robert Long studio in Sausalito, California. Each lamp measures: 5" Diameter 1...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- David Cressey & Robert Maxwell Thumbprint Planter for Earthgender, circa 1970By Robert Maxwell and David Cressey, Robert Maxwell, David CresseyLocated in Costa Mesa, CADavid Cressey & Robert Maxwell Thumbprint Planter for Earthgender, circa 1970.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Planters and Jardinieres
MaterialsCeramic, Stoneware
- Set of Four Edward Wormley for Dunbar Horned Dining ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Rio Vista, CAIconic and rare set of four horned antler chairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Known as 5580 model dining chairs crafted from mahogany with a caned seat. Arguably these are ...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Mahogany
$19,200 Sale Price / set20% Off - Set of Six Edward Wormley for Dunbar Caned Dining ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Rio Vista, CALabeled set of six mid-century modern caned dining chairs featuring new modern boucle upholstery redux. Iconic chairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar having walnut frames in an angular design with an ebonized finish. The rectangular back has a cane inset...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBouclé, Cane, Wood
- Pair of Edward Wormley "Alexandria" Chairs for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYPair of sinuous “Alexandria” chairs in mahogany designed by Edward Wormley and produced by Dunbar Furniture circa 1961. One of Wormley’s signature des...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsSilk, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Mahogany Dining Chairs, Set of 8By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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
- Four Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA set of four Edward Wormley for Dunbar high back dining chairs with mahogany bases. Fully restored and reupholstered.Category
Vintage 1950s Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
$8,500 / set - Walnut Dining Chair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA sculptural and finely detailed armchair in walnut having a floating seat and back cushions, retaining the original black leather upholstery.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsTeak
$5,400 / item