QwkDog 3D Pacific Pottery Decorated Clothesline
QwkDog Bauer Pottery Woman on Vase
Pacific Decorated Slider
Pacific Platter Tumbler Slider
QwkDog Bauer Shepard
QwkDog 3D Vernon Kilns Harry Bird Heywood-Wakefield
QwkDog Catalina Island Wrigley Memorial
PACIFIC POTTERY HOSTESSWARE

Pacific launched their iconic Hostessware dinnerware line in 1932. In its ten-year run, Pacific produced almost 200 pieces in a wide variety of bright, cheerful colors. Learn more about Hostessware and explore one of the most comprehensive collections in the world.

Pacific Pottery
DECORATED HOSTESSWARE

The creative talent at Pacific Clay added flair to Hostessware with the 1934 launch of their decorated ware. Pacific produced over 50 different in-glazed designs, many one-of-a-kind, in the few years that the patterns were in production. Delve into this comprehensive pattern guide with close to 200 examples.

QwkDog Pacific Pottery Informal
INFORMAL!

Informal is a complete as-we-know it guide to Pacific Pottery and their iconic Hostessware dinnerware line. Meticulously researched, Informal is an illustrated guide to all of the known Hostessware pieces — including decorated lines — with visuals, designs, and photographs. The book is available through the online publishing company Blurb.

THE 1860 PROJECT
Qwkdog Leighton Interior
Qwkdog Leighton Interior
Qwkdog Leighton Interior

Where the pottery lives

In 2022, we bought and renovated an 1860 farmhouse in Down East coastal Maine. Learn more about the renovation and interior design work. (And see, of course, where the pottery lives!)

CALIFORNIA COLORED POTTERY

Bauer Pottery was founded by John Andrew (J.A.) Bauer in the late 1800s in Paducah, Kentucky. Seeing opportunity in California, he moved the company to the Lincoln Heights district in Los Angeles in 1910 and produced a range of stoneware, kitchenware and gardenware. Their production facility was located at 415-421 West Avenue 33, just a few blocks away from Pacific Clay Products plant #4. The company marketed their first solid-color dinnerware, a plainware line called “California Colored Pottery” in 1930.

Image: “Window Gazing,” ©2021 QwkDog Design

QwkDog Bauer Pottery Orange Logo
QwkDog 3D Bauer Pottery Window Gazing (black and white)

Harry Bird for Vernon Kilns

The artist and potter William “Harry” Bird designed for Vernon Kilns and Bauer in the mid- to late-1930s. Bird pioneered the in-glazing technique of decorating, also used by Pacific Pottery on their decorated ware starting around 1935. All of Harry Bird’s designs were produced on Vernon’s “Montecito” shape (used in Early California and lines). In the few short years he worked at Vernon, he produced dozens of patterns including an expansive “Flower” series with close to 30 different designs.

QwkDog 3D Vernon Kilns Harry Bird Desert Mallow

Harry Bird for Vernon Kilns, “Desert Mallow,” more on the Flower series

QwkDog 3D Vernon Kilns Harry Bird Tropical Fish Scene 01

Harry Bird for Vernon Kilns, “Tropical Fish,” more on the Fish series

QwkDog 3D Vernon Kilns Harry Pottery Spectrum Series Plates

Harry Bird for Vernon Kilns, “B-300,” more on the Spectrum series

California Tile

Tile is here!

No colorware home is complete without California tile. There’s history and examples from some of the best known tile manufacturers of the 1920s and 30s, including D&M, Taylor, Catalina, Tudor and more.

QwkDog 3D D&M Tile
QwkDog 3D Taylor Tile 6x6 Geometric
QwkDog 3D Taylor Tile 6x6 Geo Panel

The latest from The Maximalist

Stromberg Carlson Fatboy Phone

Stromberg Carlson "Fatboy" Model SC 1212, post-1936. Purchased in Ellsworth, Maine, January 2024 Stromberg Carlson started producing this black Bakelite...

Miami Greyhound Derby Track Game

Miami Greyhound Derby Track Game, No. 1105 by Hipwell Manufacturing, North Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Purchased on eBay, January, 2024 As...

Revere Zephyr Cocktail Set

REVERE COPPER COMPANY, ZEPHYR COCKTAIL SET (1937) William Archibald Welden designed Revere’s Zephyr cocktail shaker. The company produced this shaker...

Kromex Konga Shaker

Don't Shake, Rotate! One of my favorite cocktail shakers is the Kromex Konga. This 11" tall aluminum shaker features two...

D&M Galleon Tile Panel at El Encanto

In 1928, developer Peter Snyder broke ground on Midwick View Estates, a development project in Monterey Park, Los Angeles. As...

The real story behind Metlox California Pottery?

Metlox's "California Pottery" line (sometimes referred to as the 100 Series) has always been a bit of a mystery. Author...

Window Gazing

Imagine if you were shopping in downtown Los Angeles in the 1930s and happened to walk by a beautiful display...

Tudor Tile and Metlox Signage at Warner Brothers Theater Huntington Park

The Tudor Tile catalog from 1931 features Tudor in the lobby of the Warner Brothers Theater at 6714 Pacific Boulevard,...

Spanning a wide range of design topics, here’s the latest from The Maximalist on Colorware History & Design.

More on Collecting & Design

The wonderful world of QwkDog Design