Edward Wormley for Dunbar Long John Bench or Coffee Table in Sap Walnut
View Similar Items
Edward Wormley for Dunbar Long John Bench or Coffee Table in Sap Walnut
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 19 in (48.26 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Walnut,Oiled
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:St. Louis, MO
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU820210645363
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.
- Edward Wormley Bench for DunbarBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley bench, legs with Asian influence, cushion straps onto the frame, green label, price includes refinishing and upholstery c.o.m.Category
Vintage 1940s Mid-Century Modern Benches
- 1940's Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mahogany Regency Style X Form Bench or StoolBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St. Louis, MOEarly design for Dunbar, mahogany bench or vanity stool model 1050. Curved or X form base with classical styling, with older upholstered seat. Mahogany frame will be restored prior t...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid-Century Modern Three Nesting Tables in Sap WalnutBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOBeautiful set of three nesting tables designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar with SAP walnut tops, and picked mahogany frames. Model number 4783, which denotes they were designed in 1...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Nesting Tables and Stacking Ta...
MaterialsMahogany, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar MCM Expandable Lacquered Hunter Green Coffee TableBy Edward WormleyLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley for Dunbar coffee table with pull-out extensions (expands 12" on each end). Lacquered in hunter green, hand rubbed finish. Extended is 67-7/8.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMahogany, Lacquer
- Elegant Edward Wormley for Dunbar Rectangular Cocktail Table with Carpathian ElmBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St. Louis, MOMid-Century Modern, Rarely seen Edward Wormley rectangular walnut frame coffee table in a dark brown finish with inset Carpathian elm square top and sculpted legs with heavy brass sa...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Large Square Coffee TableBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in St. Louis, MOEdward Wormley for Dunbar large square coffee table or low side with parson legs. Price includes refinishing, custom color option available. No lab...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Style "Long John" Bench, Coffee Table, 1950sBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Bainbridge, NYLong Edward Wormley for dunbar style walnut "long john" Bench. Coffee Table. Bed End. Featuring a longer rectangular slat-style Walnut surface, turned edge...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsWalnut
- "Long John" Coffee Table by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Westport, CTIntroducing the epitome of mid-century elegance: the "Long John" Coffee Table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, meticulously restored to its original glory by Stamford Modern. Crafted wi...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Walnut and Teak Coffee Table or Bench by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Kansas City, MOWalnut and teak coffee table or bench designed by Edward Wormley, produced by Dunbar. Expertly refinished. The walnut top is inlayed with a teak veneer design (see photos). We also h...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTeak, Walnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Table or Bench with Magazine DisplayBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXAn exceptional Dunbar coffee table or bench (Model 5933a) with built-in brass rods for suspending magazines. Another option would be to recess a glass top over the rods to use as a s...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
- Classic Edward Wormley for Dunbar BenchBy Edward WormleyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLAn Edward Wormley for Dunbar upholstered (half) and open mahogany (the other half) bench. Brass spacers, original fabric, circa 1970s.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsMahogany
$2,800 Sale Price22% Off - SOLD 04/30/24 Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Long John BenchBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century Long John bench This bench measures: 83.75 wide x 19 deep x 12 inches high, with a seat height of 12 inches All pieces of furniture can be...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsWood
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Kaleidoscopic Upholstery Makes This Edward Wormley Chair a Showstopper
What at first glance seems an unusual choice jibes perfectly with the designer's aesthetic.
Jackie Kennedy and Sister Parish Placed This Tea Table in the White House
The former First Lady kept the Victorian antique, with an elegant chinoiserie design, for the rest of her life.