Mid Century Walnut Parsons Table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar
View Similar Items
Mid Century Walnut Parsons Table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.25 in (74.3 cm)Width: 60 in (152.4 cm)Depth: 40.25 in (102.24 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. Very good condition with some minor surface wear.
- Seller Location:Troy, MI
- Reference Number:Seller: 56381stDibs: LU8999825636
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.
- Large 19th C Spanish Walnut Table with Marquetry Top and Iron StretcherLocated in Troy, MICirca 1840s large Spanish walnut table features marquetry work on the top, carved legs and an iron stretcher. Unknown maker. Apron height: 27.5”.Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Spanish Spanish Colonial Dining Room Tables
MaterialsIron
- English Mahogany Table Painted Black With New Copper TopLocated in Troy, MICirca 1900 English round mahogany table has a painted black base with new copper top. Unknown maker. Base Only: 28.5” H x 27.5” W x 23.5” D.Category
Early 20th Century English Tables
MaterialsCopper
- Mid-Century Round Mahogany TableLocated in Troy, MICirca 1980 round dining or center table found in England made of mahogany sits on a base with four tapered legs and a four foot diameter top. Unknown maker. Very good vintage con...Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Mid Century Lucite Brass and Glass Side TableLocated in Troy, MICirca 1970s side or end table with beveled edge glass top, clear lucite legs and flat brass plated banding at base and apron. Excellent vintage condition with very little visible wear.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Mid Century Brass Glass and Horns Side Table with CastersLocated in Troy, MICirca 1970s side table has a brass covered base with casters and steer horns that support a clear glass table top. Unknown maker. Very good vintage condition with minor scattered sur...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Maison Jansen Mid Century Brass and Onyx Side TableBy Maison JansenLocated in Troy, MIOnyx and brass side table with lower tier glass shelf and reeded legs, circa 1940s. Acquired from a very experienced and reputable French dealer who con...Category
Mid-20th Century French Side Tables
MaterialsOnyx, Brass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Midcentury Dining TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar midcentury dining table This table measures: 66 wide x 44 deep x 30 inches high, and each of the 2 leaves are 24 wide with a total width of the table 114...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsWood
- Dining Table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Rectangular Bleached MahoganyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Kansas City, MOMahogany dining table with one leaf designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, 1950s. The table is in very good condition with only light signs of use under close examination. Beautiful ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Rare Edward Wormley for Dunbar Lazy Susan Dining TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Belmont, MALazy Susan dining table with interchangeable laminate spinning top. Warming unit in the middle of the top still functional. Great for fondue parties....Category
Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMahogany
$2,925 Sale Price35% Off - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Coffee TableBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Coffee Table This coffee table measures: 60 wide x 19 deep x 15.25 inches high All pieces of fu...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Coffee TableBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid century coffee table This table measures: 28 wide x 28 deep x 26 inches high All pieces of furnitur...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Conference TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid century conference table This table measures: 90 wide x 42 deep x 29 inches high, with a chair clearance ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Conference Tables
MaterialsWood