Edward Wormley for Dunbar Triple Dresser in Mahogany Wood

About the Item
- Creator:Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer),Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 35.25 in (89.54 cm)Width: 68.25 in (173.36 cm)Depth: 21 in (53.34 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Mahogany,Lacquered
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1952
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:
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.
Shipping & Returns
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Chicago, IL
- Return Policy
A return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Pair of Mahogany DresserBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar pair of mahogany dresser, five drawer cases inset pulls with fluted sliding doors concealing adjustable shelve...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar Matching Dresser Set in Mahogany WoodBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILPair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar matching dresser set in mahogany wood, model 5272 triple dresser 12-drawer storage with matching smaller companion four dr...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar SofaBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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 Writing DeskBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar writing desk model 5472, Walnut uprights with brass details supports black stained Tawi-wood top with three pencil drawers with solid horizontal tubular bra...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Slipper ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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 - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Dining TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar dining table, Seats 10 to 12 comfortably, walnut frame with teak-top inset. Two 24" leaves for all occ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsTeak, Walnut
- Edward Wormley Bedroom Dresser for DunbarBy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Brooklyn, NYImpressive Edward Wormley for Dunbar bedroom dresser offers spacious storage in a rich wood finish. Beautifully detailed wood finish accented by brass ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley Ebonized Dresser for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Los Angeles, CAEdward Wormley for Dunbar, c.1970s, USA. The mahogany dresser has been newly refinished and ebonized. It features three smaller drawers along the top of the dresser and four full len...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar 12-Drawer DresserBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St.Petersburg, FLStunning model 5272A by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Bleached mahogany dresser consists of 12 drawers with drawer pulls built out of the sides of the drawers..Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Ebonized Mahogany Dresser Chest, Newly RefinishedBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in South Bend, INAn exceptional Mid-Century Modern ebonized mahogany five-drawer chest of drawers By Edward Wormley for Dunbar USA, 1950s Measures: 34.13"W x 20"D x 31"H. Newly refinished...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Six-Drawer DresserBy Edward WormleyLocated in Ferndale, MIEdward Wormley for Dunbar Six Drawer Dresser . Nicely configured shallow to deep graduated drawers .Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut, Wood
$2,800 Sale Price49% Off - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Sculpted Mahogany Long Dresser, Newly RefinishedBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in South Bend, INAn exceptional Mid-Century Modern long dresser or credenza By Edward Wormley for Dunbar Furniture USA, 1960s Sculpted dark mahogany, with unique concave drawer fronts, origi...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBrass
Recently Viewed
View MoreThe 1stDibs Promise
Learn MoreExpertly Vetted Sellers
Confidence at Checkout
Price-Match Guarantee
Exceptional Support
Buyer Protection
Trusted Global Delivery