American modern design through the objects, colors, materials, and makers that shaped everyday style…
Maximalist provides a historical archive of American design from the 1930s through the 1960s, built from collecting, object study, graphic restoration, and close attention to the colors, forms, makers, and visual culture that shaped modern domestic style. Its creative studio, QwkDog Design, extends that world into original art, illustration, textile design, pattern, and digital work.
American Modern Design
EXPLORE THE MAIN COLLECTIONS
California Colorware
1930s California colorware brought modern optimism to the table with bright glazes, streamlined forms, and casual pieces made for everyday living. From Bauer and Pacific and others, these wares turned useful forms into cheerful expressions of color, craft, and West Coast style.
Furniture
From Heywood-Wakefield and rattan to Monterey and other American modern forms, this section explores the furniture that shaped the mid-century home—streamlined, casual, practical, and deeply tied to the changing look of everyday living.
Go-Alongs
Lighting, glassware, textiles, barware, and decorative objects that complete the room. This section explores the supporting pieces that added color, texture, shine, and personality to the American modern home.
The latest from The Maximalist
Masquerade Modern: Marc Bellaire’s Mardi Gras Ceramics
Marc Bellaire’s Mardi Gras line brings together several strands of 1950s decorative design: California ceramics, modern graphic decoration, and the...
The Curious Charm of Sascha Brastoff’s Resin Animals
Sascha Brastoff is best known for his exuberant ceramics, but his resin animal figures show another side of his mid-century...
Sascha Brastoff’s Cowboy and Western Designs
Sascha Brastoff’s cowboy and western designs are a distinct part of his broader mid-century ceramic work. Best known for his...
Majestic Lamps and Mid-Century American Lighting
Majestic lamps are among the more recognizable American lighting designs of the 1950s. They are best known for sculptural table...
Why Was “Gay Nineties” a Mid-Century Theme?
The “Gay Nineties” was a popular mid-century nostalgia theme built around a sentimental version of the 1890s: gaslight, handlebar mustaches,...
Gay Fad Studios: Hand-Painted Glassware and the Mid-Century Table
Gay Fad Studios occupies a lively place in mid-century American decorative glass. Founded by Fran Taylor in 1939, the company...
Reglor of California: Theatrical Lamps for the Postwar Interior
Reglor of California sits right in that postwar California decorative-lamp world where the boundary between sculpture, souvenir, Hollywood Regency, and...
Continental Art Company Lamps: Mid-Century Drama
Continental Art Lamp Company was a Chicago-based manufacturer located on the city’s well-known Division Street. The company was owned by...
The wonderful world of QwkDog Design
The QwkDog portfolio is full of fantastic designs, illustrations, and patterns inspired by some of the best designers and artists of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Check it out!
