20th Century

Q: What can you tell me about my very ornate, 9-inch-high porcelain coffee pot with raspberry-colored trim around the spout, rim and foot; a mythological scene in a gold panel on the body; and gold flowers all over? It's marked with a green saint in an oval, flanked by "O" and "S" and the words "St. Ruan Germany" underneath.A: Your early 20th-century melon-shaped coffee pot with the mark of Oscar Schlegelmilch is worth up to $400 in good condition, according to Mary Frank Gaston, author of the two-volume illustrated set, "The Collector's Encyclopedia of R. S. Prussia" (Collector Books, 1992; $26.95 from Gaston, P.O. Box 342, Bryan, Texas 77806)

Although the 20th century has been called the century of abstract art, the figurative tradition has remained with us, and some of the period's greatest artists, including Matisse and Picasso, never abandoned it. Figurative sculpture of the 20th century is the subject of an exhibit of the work of 34 artists currently on view at the Mitchell Gallery of St. John's College in Annapolis.The traveling show, organized by the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art of Wichita State University, features works by artists ranging in time from turn of the century figure Auguste Rodin to contemporary sculptor Manuel Neri, and includes Paul Manship, Jo Davidson, Jacques Lipchitz, Alexander Archipenko, Gaston Lachaise, Jean Arp, Theodore Roszak and Louise Nevelson.

New York. -- The Empire State Building is 60 years old. It might as well be 600, the original skyscraper from the city's Middle Ages, a monument gone from our comprehension.Needle-straight, it rises monumentally through change and through storm, presiding without expression over the city it represents around the world. Apart from the Statue of Liberty, which is more of a national monument anyway, it is the foremost symbol of New York.The Empire State at 102 stories and even with a television tower on top of that has been surpassed in height here and elsewhere.

I was finishing a new book about the same time my backyard got planted for summer. The deadline I faced for Sunday's Charles Village Festival garden walk worked wonders to motivate me. Reservoir Hill is also holding its garden tour this weekend. Both tours offer ways to snoop around and not be chased away, and both neighborhoods have a rich history of international intrigue. My reading mentioned one of the 20th-century's biggest spymasters, Allen Dulles, who operated a station in Bern, Switzerland, during World War II and was married to a Baltimorean, Clover Todd.

A few years ago, it was fashionable for Democratsto describe themselves as "members of the reality-based community. " These days, it seems the foreclosure crisis has hit them so hard they've been forced to move to another neighborhood. Metaphorically, at least, they've set up a refugee camp in Charlotte this week. In this political Brigadoon, things are going well in America, so well in fact that President Barack Obama obviously deserves a second term because Americans are better off than they were four years ago, and that the Republican Party is little more than a haven for old-fashioned robber barons who think like Klansmen but dress like Mr. Monopoly.

Donna Reed would never set her table with four different kinds of dishes. But hey, welcome to the '90s. Retro is hot. Strict interpretation of the classic '50s style, is not.At Zooks, a shop where 20th-century collectibles are taken seriously, owner/manager Stephen Basel explains that clients today put value in objects that make them smile. The '50s were full of fun and kitsch, colored in pastels. Modern meant better. Labor-saving devices were coming into the market. People were optimistic.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Colonial Williamsburg is snuffing th use of tobacco in its portrayal of a state built on the tobacco trade.As of Jan. 1, smoking is prohibited inside all historical buildings, for costumed and non-costumed workers alike.But interpreter John Lowe said the ban won't hamper his presentation of life in 18th-century Virginia. For five years, he has carried a tobacco-less clay pipe in his portrayal of carpenter Benjamin Powell."I rub it around and hold it so it has the effect of being used," Mr. Lowe said.

As the end of the century approaches, authors and publishers are rushing to document public and private collections, recording for posterity the unsurpassed penchant for antique collecting in the 20th century.The glossy, illustrated books for gift giving this holiday season survey such things as the antique treasures of the State Department, antique garden ornaments, the decorative arts of the China Trade and the Winchester rifle."Treasures of State, Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State," edited by Alexandra Rollins (Abrams, $95)

CLASSICAL music fans weary of the works of long-dead composers will have little reason to complain when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra invites nine living American composers here and plays their music over a 12-day period.The American Composers' Showcase, which will include public talks, is divided into three segments: The Discovery Series, featuring computer music; a Celebrity Series premiere by Christopher Rouse; and the Live, Gifted and Black series, featuring the works of black composers.