Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar Chairs in Cowhide, circa 1960, USA
View Similar Items
Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar Chairs in Cowhide, circa 1960, USA
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 26 in (66.04 cm)Depth: 27 in (68.58 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: EA38011stDibs: 14091179601274
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.
- 'A-Frame' Chair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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 Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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 - Mahogany Armchair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated 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
- Pair of Edward Wormley "Alexandria" Chairs for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated 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 Pair of Club ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in San Diego, CAPair of side upholstered side chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Medium brown lightly textured fabric and dark brown lacquered wood base. Chairs have been completely redone. Wonder...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
$4,800 / set - Midcentury "Quinn" Chair by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Model 1170, Walnut + WoolBy Gunlocke, Jens Risom, Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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