Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Set of Six, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 34.5 in (87.63 cm)Width: 19.75 in (50.17 cm)Depth: 21.5 in (54.61 cm)Seat Height: 18.5 in (46.99 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 6
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Houston, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU850636423712
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.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Amarillo, TX
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Edward Wormley Toadstool for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Houston, TXEdward Wormley Toadstool ottoman Dunbar. Stained oak, enameled steel, wool. USA 38 D x 15 H inches. Edward Wormley for Dunbar toadstool ottoman upholstered in wool.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWool, Wood
- Richard Meier Armchairs Set of 10 for KnollBy Knoll, Richard MeierLocated in Houston, TXRichard Meier Armchairs, 10 chairs Knoll USA, 1982 Maple Measures: 26.5 H × 20.5 W × 20 D in. Large set. In original condition.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMaple
- Frank Lloyd Wright Chair from Price Tower, 1956By Frank Lloyd WrightLocated in Houston, TXFrank Lloyd Wright. Chair from Price Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA , 1956. Aluminum, upholstery, plywood, rubber. 24 D x 35 H inches. Early...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Large Richard Meier Dining Set for KnollBy Knoll, Richard MeierLocated in Houston, TXRichard Meier Dining Set Dining table, armchairs, 10 chairs Knoll USA, 1982 Maple Measures: 27.5 H × 96 W × 60 W in table Measures: 26.5 H × 20.5 W × 20 D in. Large dining set...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsMaple
- Large Lisa Johansson-Pape 81" Wall Light for Orno, 1950sBy Lisa Johansson-Pape, Stockmann-OrnoLocated in Houston, TXLisa Johansson-Pape. Rare custom wall lamp. Orno, 1950s. Brass, opaline glass. Measures: 206 H x 60 W x 28 D cm.Category
Vintage 1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Richard Meier Dining Table for KnollBy Knoll, Richard MeierLocated in Houston, TXRichard Meier Dining table Knoll USA, 1982 Maple Measures: 27.5 H × 96 W × 60 W in Large dining table. In original condition. Table and ten chairs are separate listings.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Tables
MaterialsMaple
- 1950s Sculpted "Janus" Dining Height Armchairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA rare dining height Janus armchair designed by Mid-Century Modern master Edward Wormley. Each chair features sculpted dark mahogany frames and the original putty suede upholstery wi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- Walnut Dining Chair by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated 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
- Set of Eight Edward Wormley for Dunbar Dining ArmchairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley for Dunbar Model number 842, set of eight armchairs in mahogany with red velvet seats. All original, minor touch up prior to shipping. These chairs were used around a ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- 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
- Set of Six Edward Wormley for Dunbar Caned Dining ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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
- 1950s Set of Four Model 675 Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA set of dining chairs with exposed walnut frames supporting floating laminated seats and sculptural back rests, both covered in vintage upholstery. Designed in 1953 as a component o...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut