Edward Wormley Mahogany Executive Desk With Brass Inlay
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley Mahogany Executive Desk With Brass Inlay
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 36 in (91.44 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:irca 1950s
- Condition:Excellent restored condition.
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU84191042896
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.
- Pierre Paulin Bird's-Eye Maple and Walnut Inlay Executive DeskBy Pierre Paulin, Baker Furniture CompanyLocated in Chicago, ILRare Pierre Paulin executive desk for Baker. Bird's-eye maple veneers inlaid with dark walnut in the signature motif for the Paulin Collection. Drawers are fitted to give a floating ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Desks
MaterialsBirdseye Maple, Walnut
- Mariani for Pace Grey-Green Leather Executive Desk and CredenzaBy Pace Collection, i4 MarianiLocated in Chicago, ILItalian executive desk by Mariani for Pace Collection. Modular desk assembles in pieces for easy adjustments and moving. Teal grey leather has tooled borders where the hides are join...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Desks
MaterialsLeather, Wood, Laminate
- Landstrom Furniture Bleached and Limed Mahogany Six-Drawer DeskBy Landstrom FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILLandstrom furniture desk in bleached and limed mahogany. Aged nickel over copper drop disc pulls and trefoil escutcheons. Five drawers to the left, a single drawer above the opening ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsCopper, Nickel
- Sligh Walnut Curved Front Desk with Leather TopBy Sligh-Lowry Furniture Co.Located in Chicago, ILElegant and timeless walnut and tooled brown leather top curved front five drawer desk or writing table from Sligh. Cabriole legs and scalloped bottom and centre drawers as well as c...Category
Vintage 1950s American Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Eight Edward Wormley Mahogany, Leather and Brass Dining ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILSet of eight mahogany wood and apricot leather curved panel back dining chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Set is comprised of two arm chairs and six...Category
Vintage 1950s American Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMahogany, Leather
- Drexel Sandia Collection Jacobean Drop-Front DeskBy DrexelLocated in Chicago, ILDrexel drop front desk from the Sandia Collection, circa 1960s. Interesting writing desk marrying the form of a Govenor Winthrop drop front desk with early English Jacobean...Category
Vintage 1970s American Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar MCM Model 452 Rosewood Tambour Door Executive DeskBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid century Model 452 Rosewood Tambour door executive desk This desk measures: 74.5 wide x 28 deep x 35 high, with a chair clearance of 24 inches All ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsBrass
- Partners Desk by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXA mahogany partners desk with original leather top and base and brass hardware. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s Desks
MaterialsMahogany
- Rosewood Roll Top Desk by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXA rosewood tambour roll top desk with brass feet and leather trim. Designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.Category
Vintage 1950s Desks
- Early Dunbar Leather Curved Desk and Chair by Edward WormleyBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXAn early design by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Original lilac leather and bleached mahogany curved desk with built in bookshelves. The drawers are hinged and swing open. The original ...Category
Vintage 1940s Desks
MaterialsLeather
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Desk and Chair in Matching LeatherBy Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXAn elegant and early design by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Desk model 4725 in mahogany with original green leather and matching swiveling stool.Category
Vintage 1940s Desks
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Executive Desk, Corner Desk in Mahogany, Germany, 1970'sBy Johannes Andersen, Arne VodderLocated in Wiesbaden, DEBeautifully designed writing desk in teak. With a very distinct design this desks every wood surface has been given specific angles such as the tabletop, the unit with drawers as wel...Category
Mid-20th Century German Scandinavian Modern Desks
MaterialsMetal