Dunbar "Harlow" Sectional Sofa by Edward Wormley
View Similar Items
Dunbar "Harlow" Sectional Sofa by Edward Wormley
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25 in (63.5 cm)Width: 84 in (213.36 cm)Depth: 93 in (236.22 cm)Seat Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:Seller: 11171stDibs: f91871507292785433fs
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.
- Dunbar Model 7350 Sofas by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILDunbar Model 7350 sofas by Edward Wormley. Vintage 1970’s sofas with more recent grey & pink silk upholstery.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSilk
$9,500 / set - Dunbar Tete a Tete Sofa by Edward Wormley, 1960By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILDunbar Tete a Tete Sofa by Edward Wormley, 1960. Newly reupholstered in a beautiful cut velvet. Tete a Tete is also on casters. Measures 91" long, 2...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsVelvet
- Dunbar Sofa by Edward Wormley on Brass LegsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILFully restored in beautiful fog grey mohair over polished brass legs. Sofa designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, circa 1950s.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsBrass
- Vladimir Kagan for Preview 3 Piece Sectional Sofa, 1987By Preview, Vladimir KaganLocated in Chicago, ILVladimir Kagan by Preview 3 Piece Sectional sofa, 1987. Original upholstery.Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery
- Vladimir Kagan for Preview 4 piece Sectional Sofa, 1988By Vladimir KaganLocated in Chicago, IL4 piece curved biomorphic sectional sofa, 1988. Designed byVladimir Kagan for Preview. Original blue/green fabric is in great condition.Category
Vintage 1980s American Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Leather Sectional Sofa "Zago" Carlo Bartoli for Rossi di Albizzate, 1980By Carlo BartoliLocated in Chicago, ILLeather sectional sofa "Zago" Carlo Bartoli for Rossi di Albizzate, 1980. Original black leather.Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Sectional Sofa by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Los Angeles, CAEdward Wormley for Dunbar, c.1960s, USA, two-piece sectional sofa. The sofa features split arm rests and an exposed sculpted ebonized wood frame. This sofa has been fully reupholster...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsVelvet, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Midcentury Sectional SofaBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar midcentury sectional sofa This sofa measures: 165 wide x 29 deep x 28.5 inches high, with a seat height of 18 and arm h...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Edward Wormley Dunbar SofaBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley Dunbar sofa can be paired as a sectional with matching chaise longue 5525 we have offered in another listing.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery
$15,000 - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Even Arm Sofa or SetteesBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXTwo-piece Dunbar sofa model number 4908 designed by Edward Wormley. This low profile sofa has down-filled cushions and hand-tied springs and is one of the most comfortable modern pie...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Party Sofas by Edward Wormley for Dunbar in Original LeatherBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA beautiful pair of party sofas designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar in original buttery soft light tan leather.Category
Vintage 1950s Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Dunbar Sofa by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Brooklyn, NYChic gold velvet upholstered sofa with down back and side cushions and sprung seat. Beautifully carved mahogany feet. This is an extremely well built and comfortable sofa, with typic...Category
Vintage 1950s American Sofas