THE DUNBAR BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE
Edward J. Wormley [Designer], Margaret Hockaday [Editor]
Edward J. Wormley [Designer], Margaret Hockaday [editor]: THE DUNBAR BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE. Berne, IN: The Dunbar Furniture Company of Indiana, Berne, Indiana, 1956. First Edition. Square quarto. White cloth decorated in black. Printed dust jacket mirror board design. 208 pp. 266 black and white plates. 23 color plates. Furniture specifications. Academic ownership stamp on front endpaper covered by jacket flap. Tips mildly bruised. The rare dust jacket is lightly edgeworn and nicked, with mild loss at spine tips. Very unusual to find trade publications in such nice shape. A near fine copy in a very good or better dust jacket.10.25 x 11.5 hardcover book with 208 pages and 266 plates with 23 in color showcasing " three hundred and fifty-six pieces of contemporary furniture designed by Edward Wormley," including sofas, chairs, tables, cabinets, chests, benches, and more, all "designed for today's living." All pieces are identified by name, dimensions and finishes. I suspect this information could be useful to some people out there. Includes "The Fifth Comfort" by Edgar Kaufmann.
Contents:
- Foreword
- Edward Wormley
- The Homing Instinct
- Chair With A View
- Set The Table There
- The Cabinet Moves In
- The Bed Is To Sleep
- Business Is A Pleasure
- Index And Specifications
These chapter sound like stage directions from "Oklahoma!"
Index that lists each piece giving page it appears on, item no., name, specifications, dimensions, yardage of material or leather required. not a traditional catalogue in the sense that considerable attention is given to presenting the furniture as design pieces; many of the photographs have a sense of humor or whimsey, showing people seated in louge chairs in the middle of Wall St., or in the middle of a field looking at blueprints, designing their new home around one of Dunbar's chairs, or up in a tree house.
Edward Wormley (1907-1995) was an American designer of modern furniture known for its restrained and somehwat conservative character. Wormley studied at the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1920s before specializing in furniture design in the 1930s, when he began a long-lasting relationship with the Dunbar furniture company of Berne, Indiana. After World War II, Wormley set up a private practice in interior and furniture design with Dunbar as his primary client. He used wood and upholstery in a tailored way that seemed comfortable to an audience not totally ready for the austerity of International Style design. Wormley often called his designs "transitional", and he did no hesitate to use forms as those of the ancient Greek klismos chair. His Dunbar furniture was included in a number of "Good Design" exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.
Spreads from this volume can be viewed here.
out of stock