Eight Dunbar Horseshoe Armchairs by Edward Wormley
View Similar Items
Eight Dunbar Horseshoe Armchairs by Edward Wormley
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 24.5 in (62.23 cm)Depth: 21 in (53.34 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 8
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good condition. Likely refinished at some point. Seat cushions are in very good usable condition but the upholstery job could be better.
- Seller Location:Dallas, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU851826814912
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.
- Twelve Dunbar Greene & Greene Dining Chairs by Edward WormleyBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXAn extremely rare set of twelve dining chairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Known as the Greene & Greene chair for it's crafted look with exposed tenon crest rail, rosewood ...Category
Vintage 1950s Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRosewood, Walnut
- Four Armchairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA set of four walnut armchairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
$12,000 / set - Set of Ten Dining Chairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA rare set of ten armchairs designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Fully restored with refinished walnut bases and upholstered in Designtex / Lambert fabric.Category
Vintage 1950s Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Walnut
- Four Dunbar Alexandria Chairs by Edward WormleyBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXRare set of four Dunbar Alexandria occasional chairs, model 6004, designed by Edward Wormley. Beautifully restored and upholstered in leather.Category
Vintage 1950s Armchairs
MaterialsWalnut
$38,000 / set - Dunbar Dining Table by Edward WormleyBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA beautifully grained walnut dining table with leather wrapped feet. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Table measures 60" diameter and has a 20" leaf.Category
Vintage 1950s Dining Room Tables
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- 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
- Set of Eight Edward Wormley for Dunbar Dining ArmchairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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
- Ebonized Dining Set in Olive Velvet by Edward Wormley, Dunbar, 1950'sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Culver City, CAThis set is absolutely divine! Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar in the 1950's this set was manufactured to be of the absolute highest quality, and to last forever... which it ki...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Set of Eight Dining ChairsBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley for Dunbar dining chairs, set of eight, two armchairs and six side chairs, sculpted mahogany chairs with upholstered seats, arm chairs 33" H x 22" D x 23.5" W with sea...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- Rosewood and Mahogany 5-Piece Dinette Dining Set, Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Los Angeles, CAA rosewood and mahogany 5-piece dinette dining set, Edward Wormley for Dunbar. The elegant vintage set with four mahogany armchairs and a square rosewood top set in a mahogany framew...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsFabric, Mahogany, Rosewood
$4,950 Sale Price / set69% Off - Armchair by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA sculptural and finely detailed armchair in walnut having a floating seat and back cushions that retain their original textured wool upholstery.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Upholstery
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Model 935 MCM Rosewood and Walnut Horseshoe Chairs - 4By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Model 935 Mid Century Rosewood and Walnut Horseshoe Chairs - Set of 4 Each chair measures: 24.75 wide x 22 deep x 30.75 high, with a seat height of 19 and ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Rosewood, Walnut