Edward Wormley for Dunbar Nightstands
About the Item
- Creator:Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer),Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 41.25 in (104.78 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1853325455842
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.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Los Angeles, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar CabinetBy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Los Angeles, CAHandsome walnut cabinet by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Three inner shelves with sliding doors. Bottom of cabinet is wrapped in tan leather. Dunbar tag on the back. Newly refinished in...Category
Vintage 1950s American Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut
- Dunbar NightstandsBy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Los Angeles, CAHandsome pair of Dunbar nightstands. Original medium walnut finish with leather wrapped bases. Green Dunbar tag on inside drawer of each unit. One ni...Category
Vintage 1950s American Cabinets
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Mahogany Dresser by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, 1950s USABy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Los Angeles, CAHandsome mahogany dresser by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Two shelves flank each side with 5 drawers running down the middle. 2 thick wave panels on the front of the dresser form slidi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Shelves
MaterialsMahogany
- Frank Lloyd Wright “Taliesin” Nightstand/Side Table for Heritage-Henredon, 1955By Heritage-Henredon, Frank Lloyd WrightLocated in Los Angeles, CAA rare and exceptional refinished Honduran Mahogany 'Taliesin' platform nightstand (or side table / end table) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsMahogany
- Charlotte Perriand Chest for Les ArcsBy Charlotte PerriandLocated in Los Angeles, CAPine bedside cupboard by Charlotte Perriand for Les Arcs. One pull out drawer. One door which opens to a shelf with two spaces for storage. Made of solid pine, circa 1960. Good origi...Category
Vintage 1960s French Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsPine
- Charlotte Perriand Bedside Table for Les ArcsBy Charlotte PerriandLocated in Los Angeles, CAPine bedside table by Charlotte Perriand for Les Arcs. Two pull out drawers. Made of solid pine, circa 1960. Only one available. Good original condition. Fun piece of collectible des...Category
Vintage 1960s French Night Stands
MaterialsPine
- Pair of Nightstands by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYA pair of ebonized 'French polish' mahogany nightstands with adjustable inner shelf and opposing hinges.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century NightstandBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar Mid Century nightstand This nightstand measures: 23 wide x 18 deep x 23.75 inches high All pieces of furniture can b...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsBrass
- Early Edward Wormley Step End Tables / Nightstands for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEarly Edward Wormley step end tables for Dunbar.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood
- Headboard by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn innovative and elegant king size headboard in darkened mahogany having channeled upholstery, adjustable back rests and two pairs of drop-down arms.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
MaterialsMahogany, Upholstery
- Bleached Mahogany Nightstands with Leather Bases by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXEarly minimalist nightstands designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Beautiful bleached mahogany cases with inset matching hardware and leather wrapped bases. Completely refinished.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
- Edward Wormley Nightstands for Dunbar in Walnut with Mahogany Frame Ebony PullsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXThese extraordinarily beautiful and generously proportioned nightstands were designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar and manufactured in the 1960s. Bookmatched American walnut woodgra...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsBrass