Custom Edward Wormley for Dunbar Credenza
View Similar Items
Custom Edward Wormley for Dunbar Credenza
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Later 1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Some scratches to top surface, otherwise very fresh.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 14032880681182
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 CredenzaBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Denton, TXClassic Edward Wormley for Dunbar mahogany credenza with solid brass hardware. Nine drawers with center cabinet.Category
20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar CredenzaBy Edward WormleyLocated in Pasadena, TXElegantly crafted credenza made of walnut. Credenza features distinctive half moon drawer and door pulls.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsWalnut
$4,560 Sale Price22% Off - Edward Wormley Dunbar Custom Credenza Rosewood Curved FrontBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA rare credenza designed by Edward Wormley and custom made by Dunbar for Mellin Furniture Galleries, Warren, Michigan, circa 1969. Curved front rosewood doors, walnut case with plast...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley Credenza Model 5668A for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in San Francisco, CAEdward Wormley design credenza model 5668A for Dunbar. Ebonized walnut case with newly caned front sliding doors and four drawers across the top. Comprising a fitted interior for mas...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsCane, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Model 5665 CredenzaBy Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this handsome Edward Wormley Model 5665 Credenza featuring it original 1950's finish; walnut case; three upper drawers with recessed pulls and divided interiors; three sliding doors of interwoven, laminated walnut veneer; three pull-out tray drawers behind the end doors; adjustable shelves behind the center door; passage in the back panel for cables; and Dunbar metal...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Mahogany CredenzaBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Mahogany Credenza This credenza measures: 61.5 wide x 18 deep x 34 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call restored vin...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsMahogany, Upholstery