Edward Wormley for Dunbar Iconic Cube Chairs
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley for Dunbar Iconic Cube Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)Depth: 35 in (88.9 cm)Seat Height: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Frames newly refinished, bodies newly upholstered in organic linen.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: f80681607145105243fs
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 Dunbar Yellow Upholstered Cube Club ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILA really great matched set of wormley cube chairs in all original upholstery. Signed Dunbar on upholstery as shown. Upholstrey shows some wear and fading, but I believe good to use ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- Edward J. Wormley for Dunbar Club ChairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St. Louis, MOSingle Edward J. Wormley for Dunbar club chair with older re-upholstery on thick tapered legs. Unrestored, ready for new upholstery, legs show age, should be refinished. Email for up...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Wing Lounge Chair Model 6016By Edward WormleyLocated in Middlesex, NJEdward Wormley for Dunbar wing lounge chair model 6016.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Janus Collection Lounge Chairs, PairBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in South Bend, INAn exceptional pair of Janus Collection lounge chairs By Edward Wormley for Dunbar USA, 20th Century Ebonized sculpted walnut arms and legs with an exposed frame, and red up...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Brass Leg Lounge Chairs and OttomanBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA wonderful pair of chairs with accompanying ottoman by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Features a generous and comfortable seat, button back, and solid brass tapered legs. Rare to find s...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Edward J. Wormley Lounge Chair and Ottoman circa 1950s for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward J. Wormley lounge chair and ottoman for Dunbar circa 1950s on solid brass castors. The lounge chair has a trapezoid shape, wider in the front (27.5" W) and tapers to the back....Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery