Cabinet 6026 by Edward Wormley for Dunbar
About the Item
- Creator:Dunbar Furniture (Manufacturer),Edward Wormley (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 66.5 in (168.91 cm)Width: 65.5 in (166.37 cm)Depth: 18.75 in (47.63 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960
- Condition:Very good original condition. Wear consistent with age & use.
- Seller Location:Dallas, TX
- Reference Number:
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: Dallas, TX
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Dunbar Magazine Table by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXTriangular magazine table model 5313 by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Table consists of two mahogany magazine bins, sap grain walnut top with mahogany base, ...Category
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Edward Wormley Slipper Chairs for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXEdward Wormley slipper chairs for Dunbar with dark mahogany bases and original black velvet upholstery. The upholstery has faded to an interesting shade of aubergine. Includes downfi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- Dunbar Janus Side Table by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXStunning tripod side table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar from the Famous 'Janus' Collection. Stunning exotic wood top and solid brass feet. Original condition. Retains brass rectangul...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Even Arm Sofa or SetteesBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Dallas, TXTwo-piece Dunbar sofa model number 4908 designed by Edward Wormley. This low profile sofa has down-filled cushions and hand-tied springs and is one of the most comfortable modern pie...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsBrass
- Bleached Mahogany Nightstands with Leather Bases by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated 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
- Two Pairs of Solid Mahogany Stools by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Dallas, TXWe are offering two pairs of Dunbar stools with vinyl tops and mahogany bases. They would work well as footstools for your sofa or favorite chair. There is a rectangular Dunbar label...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
- #6027 Edward Wormley for Dunbar Super Structure Display CabinetBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Pasadena, TXEdward Wormley for Dunbar Super Structure display cabinet Stunning cabinet constructed of dark walnut with a brass plated plinth base. Concave fron...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut
- Dunbar Bookcase Wall Units by Edward WormleyBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILPair of bookcases designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, circa 1960. Fully restored. Espresso stained mahogany, glass shelves, and brass details. Glass shelves can be arranged as nee...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- Edward Wormley Book Case Designed for Dunbar, circa 1953By Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Camden, METapering three-shelved walnut bookcase / plate stand designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Green Dunbar Berne Indiana metal tag is on the reverse. The bookcase is in excellent con...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWalnut
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid-Century Model 5264 Shelf BookcaseBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Countryside, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar mid-century model 5264 shelf bookcase. This bookcase measures: 48 wide x 14.25 deep x 74.25 inches high. All pieces of furniture can be had in what we...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar CabinetBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Denton, TXTwo Edward Wormley cabinets with corrugated wood sliding doors and center drawer section in a grey brown finish Each cabinet is 20" deep by 49" wide by 31.25 high.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsMahogany
- Mahogany Cabinet by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn ebonized mahogany cabinet with seven graduated, recessed-pull drawers, on a recessed plinth leather wrapped base.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany