Residential 1960 Jules Wabbes dining chairs in collaboration with Edward Wormley
View Similar Items
Residential 1960 Jules Wabbes dining chairs in collaboration with Edward Wormley
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 29.93 in (76 cm)Width: 24.41 in (62 cm)Depth: 24.41 in (62 cm)Seat Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1967
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Antwerp, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9324951058
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 vintage seating, storage cabinets, bar carts and other 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.
- High Back Armchair by Jules WabbesBy Jules WabbesLocated in Sagaponack, NYA high back armchair with the original tan leather upholstery and a solid brass base.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBrass
$5,800 / item - Edward Wormley Pair of Dining Chairs in Red LeatherBy Mobilier Universel, Edward WormleyLocated in Waalwijk, NLEdward Wormley for Dunbar by Mobilier Universel, armchairs model '5762', lacquered black wood, red leather, Belgium, design 1957 This pair of grand armchairs by Edward Wormley desig...Category
Vintage 1950s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Edward Wormley Set of Eight Dining Chairs in Red Brown LeatherBy Mobilier Universel, Edward WormleyLocated in Waalwijk, NLEdward Wormley for Dunbar by Mobilier Universel, set of eight armchairs, model '5762', lacquered black wood, red brown leather, Belgium, design 1957 These armchairs are designed by ...Category
Vintage 1950s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Mobilier Universel Set of Six Dining ChairsBy Mobilier Universel, Edward WormleyLocated in Waalwijk, NLEdward Wormley for Dunbar executed by Mobilier Universel, Jules Wabbes, set of six armchairs, lacquered black wood and fabric, Belgium, 1960s. This set of six grand armchairs is exe...Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Dining Chair by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA sinuous upholstered dining chair on tapered legs.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
$4,800 / item - Edward Wormley Executive Office ChairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILWormley for Dunbar “In Clover” 932 Executive chair button tufted leather, solid walnut base, brass casters, tilts and swivels with adjustable seat height. Dunbar Un...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood