Classic Edward Wormley for Dunbar Floating Sofa
View Similar Items
Classic Edward Wormley for Dunbar Floating Sofa
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)Width: 97 in (246.38 cm)Depth: 36 in (91.44 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:good condition, reupholstery recommended.
- Seller Location:St.Petersburg, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU80294284653
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 for Dunbar Pair of Armless “Morris” SetteesBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLRare pair of settees designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar Furniture. Settees feature an armless profile complete with two mahogany "sled" like legs. These occasionally come up in so...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Settees
MaterialsBentwood
- Classic Edward Wormley for Dunbar BenchBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLAn Edward Wormley for Dunbar upholstered (half) and open mahogany (the other half) bench. Brass spacers, original fabric, circa 1970s.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsMahogany
$2,800 Sale Price22% Off - Edward Wormley for Dunbar DeskBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA great Edward Wormley Dunbar desk with extension, bentwood handles and rear storage compartment.Category
Vintage 1940s American Desks
MaterialsMahogany
- Classic Edward Wormley for Dunbar Chest of Drawers/ DresserBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLStunning walnut Dunbar chest designed by Edward Wormley. Four large scale drawers. Legs feature Japanese style- studio/ craftsman details. Leather wrapped handles (dark brown) show s...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Angled OttomanBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLAn Edward Wormley fro Dunbar angled ottoman #5701 in original black leather. Ash frame.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Ottomans and Poufs
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Club ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLStunning pair of oak framed chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, referred to as “Edward’s Chair”. New fabric and great original finish. Chairs...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Oak
$3,250 / set
- Edward Wormley Dunbar Floating Back SofaBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Kalamazoo, MIRare 1950s sofa design by Edward Wormley for Dunbar featuring a beautiful exposed mahogany frame and a floating arm and back section. Showcasing Wormley's deft skill of transforming ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar SofaBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Sofa, early design with great scale, spring seating system, reupholstered and rebuilt reupholstered with wool ...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Brown Tufted Floating Three-Seat SofaBy Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century 3-seat sofa with brown button tufted fabric upholstery, and two removable seat cushions resting on a floating wooden base. (EDWARD WORMLEY FOR DUNBAR FURNITURE C...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric, Upholstery, Wood
- Edward Wormley Slipper Sofa for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Denton, TXEdward Wormley slipper sofa for Dunbar with off white upholstery and ebonized bentwood legs. Older restoration.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery, Bentwood
- Sofa by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dorchester, MAThis elegant sofa is a classic 1950s design by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. It features a tufted back and a long bench seat resting on tapered walnut fee...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
- Sofa by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA small sofa / settee designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Iconic form with tapered brass legs. Fully restored and upholstered in Designtex / Lambert / Smoke.Category
Vintage 1950s Sofas
MaterialsBouclé