Pair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar Leather Slipper Side Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Edward Wormley (Designer),Dunbar Furniture (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 34.5 in (87.63 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Newly finished and upholstered.
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1560214398632
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.
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: Brooklyn, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Round Bookmatched Rosewood Pedestal Dining Table By Edward Wormley For DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYExceptional, round, rosewood dining table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar features a 2.5 inch thick, bookmatched starburst pattern top with bullnose edge atop a substantial pedestal bas...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Mid-Century Modern "Long John" Coffee Table By Edward Wormley For DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Brooklyn, NYLong, low, mid-century modern, "Long John" coffee table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar features a beautifully grained, walnut paneled top with upturned edges and bentwood hairpin legs....Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Gilbert Rohde for Herman Miller Upholstered Slipper ChairsBy Gilbert Rohde, Herman MillerLocated in Brooklyn, NYWonderful pair of art deco, slipper, lounge chairs by Gilbert Rohde for Herman Miller features a rounded profile with upholstered seat and back in a woven blue linen blend.Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Slipper Chairs
MaterialsMahogany, Fabric
- Mid-Century Modern Lacquered Maple Slipper Side ChairLocated in Brooklyn, NYMid-Century Modern, slipper side chair features a black lacquered maple frame with woven, cotton linen upholstery and contrasting covered buttons.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Maple
- Hollywood Regency Slipper Chairs in the Style of Billy HainesBy William Billy HainesLocated in Brooklyn, NYPair of oversized, midcentury, Hollywood regency, slipper chairs in the style of Billy Haines with walnut frames are upholstered in beige linen, ribbon motif jacquard.Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Slipper Chairs
MaterialsJacquard, Walnut
- Hollywood Regency Velvet Slipper Chair by KroehlerBy Kroehler Mfg. Co.Located in Brooklyn, NYMidcentury, Hollywood regency, slipper chair by Kroehler upholstered in textured, cream velvet with lacquered rosewood legs.Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Slipper Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Rosewood
- Edward Wormley Curved Back Side Chair for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Los Angeles, CAA mahogany ebonized side chair by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, USA, c.1960s. The backrest has been newly caned with a newly upholstered seat cushion. Retains Dunbar brass label. Edwar...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Cane, Mahogany
- Pair of Edward Wormley Slipper Chairs for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Culver City, CAAvailable right now we have an absolutely stunning pair of slipper chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. These chairs have been freshly reupholstered in a wonderful nubby white boucle...Category
Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsBouclé
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Slipper ChairsBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEarly Edward Wormley for Dunbar slipper chairs. Lacquered mahogany legs with newly reupholstered button tufted seat and back. ...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
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
- Pair of Dunbar Edward Wormley Slipper ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Westport, CTPair of Edward Wormley for Dunbar “Gold Tag” slipper chairs, in a weaved off-white and light wheat colored Chenille fabric. Together with two pillows and tufted button design. Dark w...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Fabric, Foam
- Pair of Slipper Chairs by Edward Wormley for DunbarBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in Middlesex, NJPair of slipper chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Chairs are reupholstered in a Maharam Mohair.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs