Edward Wormley for Dunbar End Table
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley for Dunbar End Table
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25 in (63.5 cm)Diameter: 28.5 in (72.39 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: SKU000018111stDibs: LU798820082592
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.
- Pair of French Mid-Century Cerused Oak End TablesLocated in New York, NYPair of Mid-Century French Cerused Oak End Tables. Depth of bottom shelf is 11"Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsOak
$10,500 / set - Custom Ebonized Parchment End Table with Central DrawerLocated in New York, NYA custom ebonized parchment end table with central drawer. Please note that this can be customized to your specifications. Lead Time for custom made is 8-10 weeks.Category
21st Century and Contemporary American End Tables
MaterialsParchment Paper, Wood
- Pair of Italian Mid-Century End Tables with Central DrawersLocated in New York, NYA Pair of Italian Mid-Century End Tables with Central DrawersCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsBrass
- A Custom Mahogany End/Side Table with Parchment Top and Central DrawerLocated in New York, NYA custom mahogany end table with parchment top featuring a central drawer. Lead Time for custom-made is 8-10 weeks.Category
21st Century and Contemporary American End Tables
MaterialsMahogany, Parchment Paper
- Pair of Midcentury Architectural End Tables in the Manner of FornasettiLocated in New York, NYA pair of midcentury hand painted architectural end tables in the manner of Fornasetti.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian End Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Pair of French Louis XVI Style Marble-Top End Tables with Brass GalleryLocated in New York, NYPair of French Louis XVI style marble-top end tables/ nightstands with brass gallery.Category
Mid-20th Century French Louis XVI End Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Walnut End TableBy Edward WormleyLocated in Kalamazoo, MIWalnut side table designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Brass capped feet, lower shelf and interesting overhanging top on one edge. Good vintage condition.Category
Mid-20th Century End Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Early Edward Wormley for Dunbar Step End TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Los Angeles, CAThree-tiered step up side table designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, circa 1950. This table is in wonderful condition and can be used as an end ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Midcentury Side End TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar midcentury Side End Table This side table measures: 21 wide x 21 deep x 22.5 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call restored v...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Pair Mahogany End TablesBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYAn early example of Edward Wormley's sophisticated Modernism. Stepped two-tier end tables with subtle Chinoise elements to the carving of the base. These retain the original dark mah...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley End Table by DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Highland, INA beautifully detailed table with great proportions, this Ed Wormley end table by Dunbar features a walnut case and shelf supported by mahogany leg...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Dunbar Edward Wormley Polygon End TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYA mahogany end table with polygon top. Made by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. USA, circa 1960. Signed with Dunbar brass tag. Dark brown finish. Dimensions: 20" L × 19" D x 19.5" H. Loc...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood, Mahogany