Edward Wormley Magazine Tree
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley Magazine Tree
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 24.5 in (62.23 cm)Width: 28 in (71.12 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:United States
- Period:Mid-20th Century
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Wargrave, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU83954837973
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.
- Paavo Tynell Desk Lamp , Model 9224 or " Horseshoe " Light . Stamped by maker .By Paavo TynellLocated in Wargrave, BerkshirePaavo Tynell , Finland . Rare version of the 9224 desk lamp featuring a perforated shade so that light is subtely diffused through many tiny holes . Brass structure with leather wra...Category
Vintage 1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Angelo Ostuni , Renarto Forti & Giuseppe Ostuni for Oluce , Italy 1958 .By Angelo OstuniLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireAngelo Ostuni , Renarto Forti & Giuseppe Ostuni , model 259 for Oluce , Italy , 1958 . Table or desk lamp of a very simple design yet so effective in terms of adaptability . A single...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Franco Albini for Poggi circa 1950, Folding ChairBy Franco AlbiniLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireFranco Albini for Poggi, Italy, circa 1950. A folding chair of wooden construction in completely original untouched vintage condition. Mech...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Arthur Espenet Carpenter, "Wishbone” Chair circa 1970s, StampedBy Arthur Espenet CarpenterLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireArthur Espenet Carpenter, California, USA, circa early 1970s "Wishbone" chair of African Hyedua and brown leather strapping. Stamped to the underside "Espenet", he chose not to sign ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- Finn Juhl for Kay Bojesen, Dennark, Set of 6 Teak Wood Bowls , All SignedBy Finn JuhlLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireFinn Juhl design circa 1951 for Kay Bojesen, Denmark. Carved teak wood of organic form, all 6 are signed by makers stamp to the underside. One with older repair.Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsTeak
- Hans Wegner, Folding Lounge Chair model JH-512, circa 1960, by Johannes HansenBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireHans J Wegner (1914-2007), Folding Lounge Chair, model JH-512, original design 1949, this example possibly produced circa 1960. Produced by Johannes Hansen, Copenhagen Denmark, an...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Clover Leaf Magazine StandBy Edward WormleyLocated in West Palm Beach, FLEdward Wormley Clover Leaf Magazine Stand Sap Wood Walnut and Laminated Bentwood magazine Holders A useful and elegant example Early Green LabelCategory
Vintage 1950s American Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley Modernist Magazine TableLocated in New York, NYAn Edward Wormley for Dunbar modernist magazine table. Mahogany.Category
Vintage 1950s American Side Tables
MaterialsMahogany
$4,600 Sale Price32% Off - Edward Wormley for Dunbar Walnut Magazine Tree TableBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Utrecht, NLMagazine tree, model 4765 by American designer Edward Wormley executed in birch and sap grain walnut, designed in 1947 for Dunbar Furniture USA. A very special, functional and aesth...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBirch, Walnut
- Edward Wormley Side TableBy Edward WormleyLocated in West Palm Beach, FLEdward Wormley for Dunbar side table with storage insideCategory
20th Century American Tables
MaterialsBurl
- Edward Wormley Expandable Coffee TableBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXEdward Wormley designed coffee table produced by Dunbar. Solid Mahogany construction, professionally restored with the appropriate satin espresso finish. The functionality of thi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Magazine Table by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYA triangular ash table with an inset cream leather top over two web strap magazine holders.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsAsh, Leather