Edward Wormley

Edward Wormley was born in 1907 in a small town outside of Chicago. From an early age he enjoyed interior decoration and this guided his direction in life. A course offered by the New York School of Interior Design to out of state high school students was his first formal instruction on design. After a brief time at the Art Institute of Chicago, Edward Wormley was unable to continue to pay the fees and worked as an interior designer for Marshall Fields & Company department store.

Early on in his career, during the Great Depression, Wormley was appointed to design furniture for Dunbar, a premium furniture maker based in Indiana. He was essentially the company's in house designer in this position, from 1932 to the late 1960s. It was a perfect match, a high end maker paired with a designer with a keen eye for detail and exacting standards of quality. The partnership led to unique and memorable pieces, coveted by wealthy clients.

Wormley's designs for Dunbar were extremely difficult to produce, with juxtaposing materials and hand crafted elements produced by master craftsmen. It is probable that, at that time, Dunbar was the only company in the United States equipped with a team of people who were skilled enough to manufacture his designs. Wormley also operated a studio in New York City. Here he pursued interior design and was commissioned by Lightolier, RCA, Rand McNally and Alex Smith & Sons.

Although he wasn't strictly a modernist designer Wormley is respected for his ability to weave classical design elements into a modernist object. He had a strong ability to create balance in an object with colour, materials and form. His reputation was boosted by MoMA's inclusion of his work in the Good Design Exhibitions and his inclusion in the famous 1961 Playboy image of iconic mid-century designers Charles Eames, George Nelson, Jens Risom, Harry Bertoia and Eero Saarinen.