Set of Six Edward Wormley Model 5480 Cane and Ash Chairs Made by Dunbar
View Similar Items
Set of Six Edward Wormley Model 5480 Cane and Ash Chairs Made by Dunbar
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Stamford, CT
- Reference Number:Seller: Avery & Dash - NHS1stDibs: LU918611365221
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 Cane Back and Brass ArmchairBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTEdward Wormley for Dunbar cane back and brass armchair. Circa 1950's.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsCane, Oak
- Caned and Ebonized Arm Chair Designed by Edward WormleyBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTA sharp looking ebonized chair with caned side panels designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s American Modern Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Sofa Designed by Edward Wormley and Produced by DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTA newly upholstered sofa made by Dunbar and designed by Edward Wormley, circa 1965.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley Mahogany Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTAn Edward Wormley for Dunbar upholstered six leg mahogany bench with brass detail.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Leather and Walnut Chests Designed by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTA pair of chests in walnut with leather wrapped baseboards and blond handles. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, circa 1955.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWalnut
- Janus Corner Sofa Designed by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Stamford, CTA Janus Collection corner sofa produced by Dunbar and designed by Edward Wormley. Model 629A. Upholstered in Rogers and Goffigon fabric.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsWalnut
- 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
- Set of Six Cane Back Dining Chairs by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn elegant and unusual set of six dining chairs with a cane wrapped barrel back and an upholstered seat atop four slender legs.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMahogany, Upholstery
$36,000 / set - Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Set of Six, 1950sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Houston, TXEdward Wormley, two armchairs, and four side chairs. Dunbar, USA. Mahogany and leather. Signed with applied gold rectangular metal manufacturer's label to the seat bottom [Dunb...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Set of Four Cane and Mahogany Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dorchester, MADesigned by Edward Wormley for Dunbar in 1946, these four dining chairs, model 4632, feature elegantly tapered frames in a light mahogany with solid seats and curved backrests inset ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Mahogany
- Pair Edward Wormley for Dunbar Model 5480 ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYAn iconic Edward Wormley design, the ‘A-Frame' chair is a wonderful example of Wormley’s expertise in mixing materials into sophisticated, architectural forms. Employing dark stain...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Bentwood
$11,500 / set - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Caned Back Dining Chairs Set of TenBy Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar caned back dining chairs set of ten, Model 6328 with newly upholstered seats in cotton velvet by Great Plains, Mahogany fram...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Velvet, Walnut