Painted Furniture

A remarkable card table recently acquired by the Baltimore Museum of Art relates to the art, architecture and history of Baltimore in the early 19th century.A painted card table of about 1815, it comes from a period when Baltimore was one of the leading centers of painted furniture. This unusual example has a large Chinese fishing scene on its top, and other scenes with Chinese characters painted on its front and side aprons.According to BMA curator of decorative arts, James A. Abbott, the only other examples of Baltimore painted furniture with Chinese scenes are two chairs believed to be from the same set as the card table and now owned by the Winterthur Museum near Wilmington.

This time around, let's relax and enjoy Tom Miller's painted furniture, currently on view at Steven Scott Gallery.Since about a decade ago, when the work of this Baltimore artist began to find an audience first locally and then on a national scale, it's been scrutinized, analyzed, solemnized quite enough.And all because it's so much fun. The old furniture that Miller finds and paints in his trademark Technicolor style has an immediate appeal that people tend to resist. Afraid somebody will think they're calling it superficial, they emphasize instead its serious side.

If there's anybody out there who doesn't know about Tom Miller's wonderful painted furniture, run right to Steven Scott Gallery and make its acquaintance. That is, if you can get in, because all those who do know about Miller's work will probably be there already.Painted furniture had a great tradition in Baltimore in the 19th century, and the best of it was as high style as Baltimore ever got. Miller has turned the tables on this tradition by taking articles of already-made furniture and decorating them with partly deco-inspired but thoroughly original designs in the brightest of colors.

Even the laziest gardener knows he has to rake a few leaves this time of year. The Landscape Contractors Association, a nonprofit trade organization, offers these tips for those of you who want to do a little more:* October is a great time to plant new shrubs and trees.* Water new plantings regularly, even though days are cool.* Dig up gladiolas after the first frost, cut stems 2 to 3 inches above the corm, dry and store.* Plant spring flowering bulbs. Use a bulb starter fertilizer and mulch lightly.

Philadelphia turns back time as two annual antiques shows overlap April 17-22. The 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show, April 17-19, will showcase 40 American dealers. The Philadelphia Antiques Show at the 103rd Engineers Armory, April 18-22, will offer the exhibit "America's Painted and Gilded Legacy: 19th Century Painted Furniture."The Second Annual 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show, 22 S. 23rd St. between Market and Chestnut streets, will be open April 17, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; April 18, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; and April 19, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $15 on April 17 and $10 on April 18-19.

This weekend take the time for a leisurely drive to enjoy the fall foliage -- and a house tour. Here are two suggestions:* The 39th annual Potomac Country House Tour will showcase five exceptional homes next Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Call (301) 365-2055 for information.* The Harford County Chapter of AMC Cancer Research Center's decorator show house will be open through Oct. 2. The Homestead, located at 221 Linwood Ave. in Bel Air, features the work of over 20 designers and artisans, including such well-known ones as Alexander Baer and Associates.

Some people worry that the currently popular multicultural approach to the arts means the death of a more traditional, aesthetic approach. They should see "Classical Maryland" at the Maryland Historical Society.In February, "Mining the Museum," Fred Wilson's multicultural-oriented installation about African-American and American-Indian history, closed after an 11-month run. Last Saturday, in the same spaces, the MHS opened a show that's as traditional as you can get in its approach: beautiful objects made for rich people, subjected to scholarly research and installed to please the eye.The MHS proves with this juxtaposition of exhibits the validity of both approaches.

How did this happen? Suddenly it's Dec. 20, and you're still working on your holiday gift list. At this point, you don't just need gifts, you need inspiration! Our suggestion: Get off the beaten track. Here are some last-minute gifts from some lesser-known shops, where you just might find the perfect present for that hard-to-buy-for person.Comforts of homeOld-fashioned, handmade comforts of home abound at the Woman's Industrial Exchange shop, 333 N. Charles St. A double-bed quilt in bright primary colors and pastels in the traditional log-cabin pattern is $400.

Q: I've long been bothered by the 8-foot-high ceiling in my bedroom, which seems much too low for this otherwise generously sized space. At last I've decided to do something about it by redoing the room. My plan is to introduce floral wallpaper and painted furniture, but I wonder whether that will have much of a visual effect in regard to the ceiling's height. What do you think?A: The combination you're contemplating won't, by itself, do much to change perception of the room's proportions.

Gregory Weidman's normal level of enthusiasm is pretty high, but it rises even higher when she talks about her recent discoveries. "It was like finding the Rosetta Stone," she says. "We can attribute with certainty maybe 10 times -- 10? maybe 50 times -- what we could before."It's every researcher's dream to find the key that makes everything fit into place in her field. The Rosetta Stone was the key that led to deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphics. In Ms. Weidman's case, the "hieroglyphics" are Baltimore painted furniture of the early 19th century.