Edward Wormley for Dunbar Rare Janus Cabinet in the Style of Greene & Greene
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 27 in (68.58 cm)Depth: 27 in (68.58 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses.
- Seller Location:St. Louis, MO
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU82026058113
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: St. Louis, MO
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Edward J. Wormley for Dunbar Cabinet with Asian HardwareBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOMid-Century Modern Edward J. Wormley for Dunbar cabinet with brass Asian hardware. All original dark had rubbed finish on ribbon mahogany, top will be polished and touched up prior t...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Gentleman's ChestLocated in St. Louis, MOMid-Century Modern Edward Wormley for Dunbar bachelors chest with flip-top mirror, drawers in center, flanked by two cabinet doors, in bleached mahogany, currently being refinished (...Category
Vintage 1950s American Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany
- Janus Side Table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar with Natzler TilesBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MORare Janus side table with 25 inset tiles by Otto and Gertrud Natzler. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Base of walnut with brass edging on legs.Category
Vintage 1950s American Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Edward J. Wormley for Dunbar SideboardBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley for Dunbar for modern 1940s bleached mahogany sideboard, center stepped out, inset oval drawer pulls, center interior with drawers and space to store table pads, end cabinet doors hinged on sides and have curved wood door shelves, on leather plinth base. Original key. To be refinished, custom colors options available. Dunbar quality...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley bench, legs with Asian influence, cushion straps onto the frame, green label, price includes refinishing and upholstery c.o.m.Category
Vintage 1940s Mid-Century Modern Benches
- Rare and Elegant Edward Wormley for Dunbar Lounge ArmchairBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley for Dunbar lounge chair. Model number 6309, part of the Today and Tomorrow collection, circa 1963. Beautiful channelled mahogany frame with ultra-suede seat and back c...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Janus Cabinet by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn elegant rectilinear light walnut two-door cabinet having Chinese-influenced hardware and a rare configuration of twelve cushioned flat drawers.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
- Janus Cabinet by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn rectilinear light walnut two-door cabinet having Chinese-influenced hardware and open and adjustable shelves, the form sitting on a plinth base.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Console CabinetBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA beautiful walnut and mahogany console with stone top. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut
- Cabinet by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA walnut cabinet with leather wrapped handles and spruce sliding doors. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut
- Rare Olive Burl Cabinet by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA rare and beautiful two-door cabinet with solid brass knockers and Spanish marble top. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Has two adjustable shelves and the original 'D' key.Category
Vintage 1950s Cabinets
MaterialsMarble
- Mahogany Cabinet by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn ebonized mahogany cabinet with seven graduated, recessed-pull drawers, on a recessed plinth leather wrapped base.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Kaleidoscopic Upholstery Makes This Edward Wormley Chair a Showstopper
What at first glance seems an unusual choice jibes perfectly with the designer's aesthetic.
Jackie Kennedy and Sister Parish Placed This Tea Table in the White House
The former First Lady kept the Victorian antique, with an elegant chinoiserie design, for the rest of her life.