Edward Wormley Dunbar Mid-Century Modern Taupe Upholstered Sofa

Details

Description

DESIGNER
Edward Wormley for Dunbar Sofa

DETAILS
The ultimate sofa for floating in the middle of a room because of … Read more DESIGNER
Edward Wormley for Dunbar Sofa

DETAILS
The ultimate sofa for floating in the middle of a room because of its beautiful provenance statement aesthetic. Row button tufted. Simple lines. Great for any mid century modern decor, this original dunbar sofa still has the original label attached.

About Edward Wormley (Designer)
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 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 items on these pages demonstrate, Edward Wormley conceived of a subdued sort of modernism, designing furniture that fits into any decorating scheme and does not shout for attention.

CONDITION
In need deep clean or reupholstery, water staining on cushions and armrests; one corner of cushion is frayed
Back and frame in good condition
Wooden legs with brass heels need attention. When facing the sofa, the back right leg is compromised. It is wobbly and not greatly supportive. By touch, you can feel one (if not more) screws are not entirely fastened. It would need several people to pick it up & turn over to clearly assess condition of the leg. The under dust cover is not letting me see what is happeining at the joint where the leg meets the frame. it efinitely needs to be reupholstered and shown some love, but it has a beautiful silhouette.

SIZE & MEASUREMENTS
(Approximate)
8' ft long (96")
28" height
24" depth

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