Europe 1900 to the present

A clock, a piece of tableware or a decorated vessel can make a period’s design choices easy to recognize. Room 48 follows applied arts from around 1900 to the present, including Art Nouveau, work associated with Darmstadt and the Bauhaus, and American design. The objects show different approaches to shape, ornament and production. Some makers sought new forms, while others changed how familiar things were made or distributed. Russian porcelain associated with the Revolution adds political imagery to objects used at the table or put on display. Pick one object whose purpose you recognize, then look at how its maker treated that purpose. A clock still needs to show the time, but its case and dial can belong to very different ideas of a modern home.