Edward Wormley Shelf for Dunbar
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley Shelf for Dunbar
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 26 in (66.04 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)Depth: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:Refinished.
- Seller Location:San Francisco, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU812523740722
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 vintage seating, storage cabinets, bar carts and other 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 Ottoman for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in San Francisco, CAEdward Wormley design x-base ottoman for Dunbar Furniture. Timeless and classic design by Wormley offering additional seating for any arrangement. Newly refinished and upholstered in...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Ottomans and Poufs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
$8,500 / set - Edward Wormley Magazine Table for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in San Francisco, CAEdward Wormley magazine table for Dunbar, Berne Indiana. Classic mid-century design by Edward Wormley, sophisticated yet modern. Newly refinished with original order tags intact, rea...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley Dining Chairs for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in San Francisco, CAEdward Wormley design for Dunbar set of six mahogany and cane dining chairs, comprising five side and one armchair. Perfectly refinished...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
$10,800 / set - Edward Wormley Brass Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in San Francisco, CASophisticated brass square frame bench designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Very good original condition, Model #5428.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Credenza Model 5668A for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated 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 King Size Headboard for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in San Francisco, CAEdward Wormley design King size headboard for Dunbar Furniture, Berne Indiana. Featuring an ebonized mahogany frame with a caned backrest intended for a king size mattress, no rails ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
MaterialsCane, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Etagere Shelf – PairBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Etagere Shelf – Pair Each etagere measures: 20 wide x 20 deep x 79 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsGlass, Wood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid-Century Model 5264 Shelf BookcaseBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid-century model 5264 shelf bookcase. This bookcase measures: 48 wide x 14.25 deep x 74.25 inches high. All pieces of furniture can be had in what we...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- 1970's Edward Wormley for Dunbar Wall Shelving Unit CabinetBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Burbank, CAVintage Mid-century Modern shelf for sale. It was manufactured in the 1970's by Dunbar, and designed by Edward Wormley. It has a lower credenza with cabinets and a drawer and shelves...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsGlass, Burl
- Dunbar Magazine Tree #5336 Designed by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Denton, TXEdward Wormley for Dunbar magazine tree in walnut with four cantilevered shelves that get deeper as the order descends from top to bottom. A rare model introduced in 1953 and was onl...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsWalnut
- 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 for Dunbar CredenzaBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated 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