Mid 20th Century Dunbar Attributed Floral Upholstered Wingback Chairs - A Pair

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Description

Quick Hits
- Brand/Maker: Dunbar Furniture (attributed)
- Piece Name: Floral Upholstered Wingback Chairs (pair)
- Style: Mid-Century Modern / … Read more Quick Hits
- Brand/Maker: Dunbar Furniture (attributed)
- Piece Name: Floral Upholstered Wingback Chairs (pair)
- Style: Mid-Century Modern / Traditional
- Materials: Floral fabric upholstery; wood front leg detailing
- Era: Mid 20th Century
- Why We Love It: Floral-upholstered wingbacks attributed to Dunbar — one of mid-century American furniture's most respected names — with the distinctive wood leg detailing that makes the attribution credible and the chairs genuinely desirable.

More About This Item
Dunbar wingback chairs are not common. The brand's production was never enormous, their furniture was never cheap, and surviving pairs in good condition with period upholstery are the kind of thing that design editors write about when they find them. This pair — attributed to Dunbar based on the characteristic beautiful wood detailing on the front legs — brings the floral upholstery to the Dunbar structural vocabulary in a combination that feels exactly right for the brand's mid-century sensibility.

Dunbar, under designer Edward Wormley, made furniture that bridged mid-century modernism and traditional comfort in ways that most of their contemporaries didn't attempt. The wingback form itself is traditional — high back, sheltering wings, enclosed silhouette — but the Dunbar interpretation brings a refinement of proportion and leg detail that lifts it above ordinary wingback territory. The floral upholstery in cream tones would have been an elegant choice in the period and reads as equally fresh today, particularly against the warmth of the wood leg detailing.

Charming in a formal living space, a library, or a cozy den — exactly the settings that Dunbar furniture was designed to inhabit.

Design Style
Mid-Century Traditional — the design register that Edward Wormley navigated so skillfully for Dunbar: furniture that acknowledged traditional forms and comfort conventions while bringing them into the modern era through refined proportions and quality materials. The floral-upholstered wingback sits comfortably in this tradition, neither purely historical nor self-consciously modern.

In current interiors, attributed Dunbar pieces occupy a position of genuine collecting interest. The brand sits in the upper tier of mid-century American furniture in terms of both design reputation and secondary market value, and pairs in good condition with credible attribution draw serious attention from designers and collectors who understand what the name represents.

Brand Legacy
Dunbar Furniture, based in Berne, Indiana, produced some of the most distinguished American furniture of the mid-20th century under the design direction of Edward Wormley (1907–1995). Wormley's approach — bridging modernism and traditionalism, prioritizing quality and livability over avant-garde statement — produced furniture that has aged into the collector market with unusual grace. Dunbar pieces consistently command strong prices on 1stDibs and at auction, and attributed Dunbar work, where the design vocabulary is clearly present, is taken seriously by the market. This attribution, supported by the characteristic wood leg detailing, positions this pair as a meaningful find. See less