Pair of Edward Wormley Slipper Chairs
View Similar Items
Pair of Edward Wormley Slipper Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Attributed to:Dunbar Furniture (Retailer)
- Dimensions:Height: 31.5 in (80.01 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 29 in (73.66 cm)Seat Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Mid-20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Chairs need to be reupholstered.
- Seller Location:Bridgehampton, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 99631stDibs: LU77786958543
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.
- Pair of Dunbar Edward Wormley Slipper ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Westport, CTPair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar “Gold Tag” slipper chairs, in a weaved off-white and light wheat colored Chenille fabric. Together with two pillows and tufted button design. Dark w...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Fabric, Foam
$9,800 / set - Pair of Edward Wormley Slipper Chairs for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Culver City, CAAvailable right now we have an absolutely stunning pair of slipper chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. These chairs have been freshly reupholstered in a wonderful nubby white boucle...Category
Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsBouclé
$4,445 Sale Price / set30% Off - Pair of Slipper Chairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Middlesex, NJPair of slipper chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Chairs are reupholstered in a Maharam Mohair.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
- Pair of Blue Edward Wormley for Dunbar Slipper ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TX1950's Classic American mid-century Edward Wormley for Dunbar slipper chairs model #127. With its timeless yet fashion-forward appeal these chairs are one of the most recognized desi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Slipper ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILEarly Edward Wormley for Dunbar slipper chairs. Lacquered mahogany legs with newly reupholstered button tufted seat and back. ...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
$9,009 / set - Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar Leather Slipper Side ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Brooklyn, NYPair of slipper, side chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar feature mahogany frames with high backs, upholstered in butterscotch leather.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany