Reproductions

From 1979 to 1984, Chinese sculptor Hou Rong worked at the site of the 210 B.C. grave of Chinese emperor Ch'in Shih Huang Ti, where an army of 6,000 terra cotta warriors and horses was discovered in 1974. The sculptor, who made numerous reproductions of the figures, is now in this country, working at Towson State University toward his master of fine arts degree. One of his life-size reproductions of a warrior is currently on view at the Folk Art Gallery, along with other contemporary works.

Reader Richard M. Caplan recently wrote to ask why I don't review online exhibitions. "By limiting your reviews to `brick-and-mortar' buildings, you may also be limiting your audience," Caplan suggested. "Many more people have access and are willing to use computers than visit galleries," he added. "If you were to review virtual fine art galleries, I believe you would open up the art world to many more people while they are sitting at home." Caplan, who told me he is an accountant by vocation, exhibits his own black-and-white photographs on his Web site, caphoto.

There once was a time when visitors to museums might assemble a library of slides to keep a record of artworks not published in popular print sources. However, nowadays, the purpose may be fulfilled more easily with laser discs or videotapes that reproduce works from museum collections.One of the newest and best of these is devoted to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris (Voyager, $124.95).The disc offers a one-hour introduction to various 19th century movements and their most important artists. A 143-page booklet provides texts on the art, though viewers may also choose a narration in either French or English.

The Carroll County commissioners are planning to put the nation's history on display in Westminster.The commissioners will place Freedom Shrines -- photographic reproductions of 28 historic United States documents -- in the courthouse annex and the County Office Building.A dedication ceremony is expected in February."This is a wonderful display for people to look at," said Steven D. Powell, county budget director. "It gives them an opportunity to review our nation's history."The photographic reproductions are the result of the Freedom Shrine Project, which was conceived in the educational department of the Ohio-based National Exchange Club, a nonprofit service organization.

Side by side, the two heart-back chairs at the Maryland Historical Society seem to be courtly twins, regal and inviting with their graceful curves. To the untrained eye, the only immediately distinguishable difference between the two chairs is the seat fabric, one plain, one striped. It's a double view of a familiar design: Baltimoreans know the chair as part of the society's logo.The true distinguishing mark is the price tag.One of the chairs is not for sale. It's the Federal-style chair made in about 1790 for Maryland's Declaration of Independence signer, Samuel Chase, probably for the house he built in Baltimore at the corner of Lexington and Eutaw after 1786.

Though Victorian antiques are popular and beautiful, collectors frequently reject otherwise desirable pieces because the ornate and intricately carved decorations have been lost or damaged.Even if a piece is worth saving, the trick is finding a craftsman able and willing to carve a replacement -- at a less than prohibitive price.Enter the Jeremiah brothers, of Illinois, Florida and Ellicott City, who not only use modern technology to make restoration easier but also have created a new range of trims on which craftsmen and decorators can use their imagination.

Q:My 14-inch high, covered, two-handle ceramic urn (missing its finial) is decorated with a blue and gold swag and an American eagle in a medallion. It's marked "A Mot tahedeh Design 7001 Italy." A friend thought it might be old and valuable. Is it?A: Mottahedeh & Co., the Stamford, Conn., based creator and importer of porcelain dinnerware and decorative accessories, has been reproducing antique china and decorative accessories since 1927, specializing in licensed reproductions for institutions such as Winterthur, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Historic Charleston, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

We're talking about the wristwatches featuring pictures of 14 famous African Americans, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Cosby, Malcolm X and Lena Horne.The "African Americans of Achievement" series is not the first time New York-based Creative Strategies has advocated wearing your heart on your wrist, so to speak.Geoff Walsh, 26, started out peddling watches featuring reproductions of world-famous paintings by Degas, van Gogh and Dali.His company also produces a wildlife series and a funky, colorful "Graffiti Movement" series.

To buy a museum reproduction is to buy a bit of history as well as a piece of furniture.With it you get what's known in the worlds of art and antiques as provenance, the history of a piece's origin. Perhaps this is no more than a hang tag that gives the background of the original furniture.But if you know that your purchase is part of a museum-based licensing program, you know the museum has sanctioned the company and had some say in the design and quality of the piece.Museum-based licensing programs aren't new -- they started with Williamsburg in the 1930s.

The Civil War ended more than 131 years ago but Americans are reliving it in ever-greater numbers -- and Baltimore author Alan Wellikoff helps equip them in proper 19th-century fashion.In a series of source books for Civil War enthusiasts -- including his latest, The Civil War Supply Catalogue -- the Roland Park free-lancer offers a guide to virtually anything the historically correct re-enactor could need.The ultimate in realism may be the period-style wooden coffin with a viewing window, for those who want to either play casualty -- or be buried with historic accuracy.