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Edward Wormley for Dunbar Club Chairs

About
Details
- CreatorDunbar Furniture (Maker),Edward Wormley (Designer)
- DimensionsHeight: 32.5 in. (82.55 cm)Width: 24 in. (60.96 cm)Depth: 24 in. (60.96 cm)Seat Height: 18 in. (45.72 cm)
- Sold AsSet of 2
- StyleMid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques
- Place of Origin
- Period
- Date of Manufacture1960s
- ConditionWear consistent with age and use. Frames are in excellent condition with original finish New upholstery.
- Seller LocationSt.Petersburg, FL
- Reference Number
Shipping & Returns
- ShippingShips From: Mickleton, NJ
- Return Policy
A return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
About the Designer
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 ArmchairBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLUnusual chair in leather and walnut by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Fantastic walnut base with detailing consistent with his “Janus” line. Leather appears original and presents excepti...Category
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- Edward Wormley For Dunbar "Morris" Lounge ChairBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA rare Edward Wormley for Dunbar multi position recliner known as the "Morris" chair. Classic reinterpretation the lounge chair has three positions. Mahogany in dark, original finish...Category
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- Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar "Morris" ArmchairsBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA pair of rare and unusual Edward Wormley for Dunbar adjustable back lounge chairs. Known as "Morris" chairs they allow for 3 positions-low, medium, high. Made of mahogany and natura...Category
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- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Floor LampBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLFloor lamp designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Features a "snack" table base consisting of brass legs, walnut stem, carpathian elm burl wood table top trimmed in walnut. Light com...Category
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MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Large Channel Cube Dunbar ChairsBy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA pair of impressive, large-scale, cube-shaped Dunbar chairs in original leather. Designed by Roger Sprunger, ca'1970's.Category
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$7,500 / set - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Daybed/ ChaiseBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA large daybed or chaise designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Loose tufted cushion with a custom accent pillow. Supported by four solid brass legs. Would work well in a variety ...Category
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