- This is our place, our time.

We'll look at the Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum, a program on decorative arts and cultural history.

We'll examine the making of the skyline of Hampton Roads and we'll hear music from Woody Ner and Gem Masters.

Here's your host, Vianne Webb.

- Welcome to our place our time.

For 40 years, colonial Williamsburg has sponsored an annual antiques forum, bringing together experts on decorative arts and cultural history for a week long program of lectures and exhibitions, concerts and tours, films and workshops.

This year's Antiques Forum begins Sunday and it has the theme, a glorious revolution of things from 1688 to 1745.

That's the half century in England and America that we often refer to as the Queen Anne period for the beautiful furniture that we associate with her reign.

It was the era in England of Alexander Pope George Friedrich Handel, and Henry per, during those years in America, the capitol and the governor's palace were being built in Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary opened its doors.

It was known as the golden age of the Colonies.

We are going to examine those years and the antiques form from two perspectives.

I'll talk with John Sands, a member of the collections division of Colonial Williamsburg, but first we'll have a field report from our Tempe Fisk, who learned some very interesting things about Queen Anne.

- She waited until she was 37 to become Queen, and she was considered by some to be vacillating, even a little bit silly.

But Queen Anne reigned during a period of England's history that produced some of its most recognized artifacts.

Poor Queen Anne, she was rather a pathetic figure among the queens of England.

But the literature, music, and furniture of her era are glorious reminders of a time in history when the decorative arts flourished.

This weekend, colonial Williamsburg celebrates the 40th anniversary of an event, an event devoted to the rise in culture during the half century, from 1688 to 1745.

It's called the Williamsburg Antiques Forum, and it highlights what has now become known as the Queen Anne era in furniture and music.

Had you been a subject in Queen Anne's court, you probably would've been seated on chairs covered with rich tapestry work or lounged on cha as made of highly polished rich grain wood.

You certainly would have been entertained by music from one of the most popular instruments of the day.

The harpsichord Thomas Marshall is a master of music.

He specializes in early performance practices on keyboard instruments and in historical tunings for each period in keyboard literature.

Here he is playing a popular march of the period on an instrument that was built in 1762, an instrument that still retains its clarity of tone.

That is because the method of producing music from the harps accord is different from the now familiar instrument, the piano.

- Now, of course, even though the piano forte had already been invented in the early parts of the 18th century, we find still the harpsichord much preferred in many instances.

We know, of course, the harpsichord making its unique sound by plucking at the strings inside, giving a very different quality of tone.

But if we look inside the mechanism of the harps accord, we can clearly see that there is a small stick, not a hammer.

The stick then called a jack when the key is depressed, the jack moves upwards and a very small piece of Turkey quil near the edge of the jack pluck the string next to it and gives me a harp like sound.

- Musical instruments, furniture and artifacts of the Queen Anne era are just some of the highlights of a glorious revolution of things this year's Williamsburg Antiques Forum.

- Thank you, Tempe.

Many of the ideas and practices that have remained central to our ways of thinking and living in the United States have come from the Queen Anne period.

At least that's what we caught it, and I want to talk about that and the Antiques Forum with John Sands, who is a member of the Department of Collections at Colonial Williamsburg.

John, thanks for taking time from this very busy period to come and talk with us.

You've called this particular year of the Antiques Forum, which is its 40th year, a glorious revolution of things, and this time period of course talks about England and its glorious revolution, but also about a group of colonies that were very close to their eve of revolution.

I wondered if you might do an overview for us from the historical perspective of what a visitor or a guest at the Antiques Forum might see on what was going on.

What was this glorious revolution in England?

How was it reflected in music and furniture and what was happening in the colonies at the same time?

- Certainly delighted.

Well, thank you for - In 25 words or less.

- No problem.

Thank, thank you for inviting me.

Well, - There's so much history here.

It just goes on.

- We thought it would be appropriate in, in 1988 to look back to 1688, the year of the glorious revolution in England, which was a political revolution when William and Mary were invited by the English nobles to literally invade their England and displaced the King.

And on November 5th, 1688 staged that revolution, that arrival of Europe into England was on a political basis was paralleled by a, a major British awareness of the European styles and culture that was starting to be very, very popular, and essentially the Baroque style arrived in England, coincident with William and Mary, and - Yeah, it's a period I think that we can definitely relate to in this not only in this country, but in this locale in which we live.

It was also the period of William and Mary and the founding of the college in Williamsburg.

- That's right.

- And I think at our stations here, we play a great deal of the music of that period, which of course was the glorious days of Henry Perle.

Exactly.

And George Friedrich Handel.

- Exactly.

- How then is all of that period that baroque and yet that grace reflected, what would we see in this furniture that's in the collection for on display and being studied at this year's forum?

How did the lines change?

- What what we're discovering is that this is a little bit like a Chinese puzzle with boxes, inside boxes and the central box, the key box is Louis xiv, who was the really leading the way in the cultural change, and the English became aware of, of the styles that he was encouraging the, and adopted them a little late.

And the American colonies, of course, followed suit after that.

And so you get a, a boiled down version by the time you get to the American colonies.

But the the styles that were, that were being set, set into motion by Louis the 14th were were eventually arriving on these shores and we were seeing great, great changes.

And it's not just that styles changed, it's that people could afford to have styles change the plantations here were were beginning to be economically viable.

People were piling up a lot of money and wanted to emulate their peers at home or people whom they would like to be their peers at least.

And so we see an awareness of the desirability of buying material goods, of building great homes of - Ah, - Of demonstrating status.

- Then the focus in America had changed from simply survival to adornment.

- Very much so.

And - They had gotten over the survival of surviving the swamps of Jamestown.

That's right.

And moving inland.

- That's - Right.

And now could afford a different kind of lifestyle.

- That's right.

So it's a, it's really a beginning of a consumer revolution, if you will, and that that resulted in, in large accumulations of things which we hadn't really seen before.

People couldn't afford them, and, and we began to see some fascinating things being, being produced.

- You said earlier that this was, that historians like yourself have discovered something which has caused you to say that you're no longer calling this the Queen Anne period.

Why is that?

And we've gotta change our, - Well, I find it hard to change myself because I was schooled in, in the old school, but what we've found is that the Queen Anne furniture that was popular in America generally was built long after Queen Anne's death.

The same with William and Mary Furniture.

And what we, what we've discovered of course, is that the stylistic periods that we've have handily used monarch's names to identify far extent far beyond their own reigns.

And so for, for clarity, we've started referring to art historical terms as mid and late baroque for the William and Mary and Queen end periods, and then Rococo for what, what has been termed Chippendale and, and then of course into the neoclassical periods.

And that seems to be a lot clearer in tying to our historical terms rather than geopolitical terms which aren't applicable.

- Are most of these pieces that are the focus of this year's antiques forum?

Are they American pieces or English pieces?

- The Antiques Forum has been very careful over the years to bridge the Atlantic to make it clear that we are both American and English, and we always try to bring in an English speaker we have this year as well.

And that's been a focus of colonial williamsburg's activity is, is we are perhaps more Anglo file than, than many American museums and try to be, - Well, I think of course, that one of the things we know about the depth of the Antiques Forum is that it is of course not just a wonderful and exhilarating display of the artistry of furniture, but that you have always taken the true historical perspective of this, and you've woven music into it so beautifully this year, and you take that more humanities approach and will, will you not conclude it with a series of lectures that I think you're giving for the public?

- We are.

The antiques form is one of many activities that colonial Williamsburg and we're, we're very proud that in, in late February and early March, we're gonna begin a series of lectures on the decorative arts at the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery.

We will have as a visiting lecturer for six talks, Jeffrey Beard, who has run the Ingham Summer School in England and is a real authority on the British Country House.

And those will be on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at four o'clock and a series ticket is available.

- Thank you.

John Sand.

The Antiques Forum at Colonial Williamsburg is just one of several events taking place in Hampton Roads over the next few days.

Here are some other choices for your consideration.

The area you and I live in is most often called Hampton Roads, but there's not a city or a town here named Hampton Roads.

Hampton Roads is of course a body of water, alongside of which have grown cities that have changed and expanded outward with our mobile population.

In recent years, we've seen the skylines of our cities rise higher and higher and spread wider.

Our reporter Kim Simon, looked into the subject of our city skylines and she found that the subject begins not by looking up, but by looking at and appreciating what gives Hampton Roads its name.

- When envisioning skylines, those manmade junctures of earth and sky, one imagines jagged silhouettes of high risers and skyscrapers, signature structures that distinguish one city from another, not one, but several skylines outline this region.

Individually, they characterize each city collectively, they shape Hampton roads.

This architectural definition, however, has taken time, developer philanthropist and community leader Henry Clay Hofheimer, who has committed himself to the growth of Hampton Roads for the past 60 years.

Attributes, the sluggish beginnings, in particular, the development of Norfolk to a number of obstacles.

- This area was pretty much decimated by the, by fires, by civil war, by lots of things that did not lend itself.

And there was no great amount of inherited wealth in Norfolk.

It was always just sort of working, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.

- And it has though, despite its growth, some believe there continues to exist an abundance of mediocre architecture.

Developer Gerald Devar committed to creating a central business district in the Pembroke area of Virginia Beach, explains his theories on why - I think traditionally the area has catered to the military and that is naturally a transient population.

And so they come and they go.

And when you're dealing with a transient market, you don't necessarily have to go the extra mile to provide what one wants for a lasting loyalty to, to your particular product.

However, with the expansion of the area and more and more people coming to move here and a more of a a settled permanent population, you're beginning to get an awareness of the need to provide a better product.

Unfortunately, again, I think our attitude and the basis we're coming from is we believe we're a hotdog and hamburger place.

And if you believe you're a hotdog and hamburger place, you get into that phobia of saying yourself, well, I only have to develop hotdog and, and hamburger type building.

Nobody's really building the long lasting buildings, the buildings that are gonna cater to a different, more sophisticated pallet.

- This is not a hot office building market.

And as a result, developers cannot get too adventuresome architecturally with buildings.

They tend to build buildings that are very simple, they're small, they tend to rent quickly, and that's a, a risk factor and it would take a very adventuresome developer to employ great architecture to do their work.

- Goodman Seeger Hogan, president Bob Stanton, took the risk building the nine story $41 million World Trade Center in what was at the time a depressed part of downtown Norfolk, as did Daniel Hoffler of Ahmar Hoffler Enterprises headquartered in Chesapeake.

- I can remember eight years ago when I was building our first buildings in Chesapeake and people would say from all over the area, way out in Chesapeake, you know, and we, we don't want to go that far out and you know, and that's miles and miles, I mean people like, like they've never even driven through Chesapeake before.

And of course that's changed - Changing.

Growth patterns are visibly evident throughout the region and are reflected by distinctive developing skylines.

High tech industries are settling in Newport News and Hampton Vertical expansion is well in progress in Norfolk Financial District as our residential high rises in the newly renovated areas of downtown Portsmouth.

Virginia Beach is turning into a commercial center and Chesapeake is coming into its own, but as developers vie for space, there is concern whether quality architecture can be generated in a rapid growth situation.

Dennis Duff, partner of Dills Anco, Duff of Virginia Beach and president of the Hampton Roads chapter of the American Institute of Architects explains, - I think, I think that's one of the unfortunate things is that in Hampton Roads area, while there is some regional cooperation, it is not by any means extensive and each city pretty much operates independently as far as planning.

The built environment is concerned.

- Both developers and planners agree that Hampton Roads is building up and out too quickly.

Although it is the contention of some like Dominion Tower developer Harvey Lindsey, that in real estate supply must sometimes outweigh demand - With office space, you have to build ahead of the market.

You have to have the inventory for the tenants to come in and take.

They don't really like to lease a building unless they see what it is, it's finished and they can see the quality of the building engaged.

That - Placing an emphasis on sophisticated and innovative design might result in attracting new businesses and more tenants say area developers for the time being.

However, design concepts continue along a conservative trend as building materials, not structures, shape.

The skylines, - The material that is being used recently on some of the more prominent, more expensive buildings, particularly in downtown Norfolk is, is the Red Granite town.

Point Center has that Minion Tower has that and it's very, it is very handsome material, also very expensive.

Other materials that have been used in the past are precast stone and concrete, lots of glass curtain walls, and they each have their own sense in what they're trying to trying to convey.

I think what that says to the public and to the tenants of the space, that it is a a permanent building.

It connotes strength and I think that the degree of permanence really is manifested in that material.

- Hampton Roads continues to gain recognition as a metropolitan area.

It has come a long way in just the past five years.

It is not without its critics who analyze its empty pockets, low rise business complexes and lack of outstanding design, but for those familiar with the area who have spent time here, the Hampton Road skyline is not just a jagged string of verticals here, the building's edge meets water's edge, a special lighting reshapes, silhouettes, while an active harbor adds distinction to the changing skylines of Hampton Roads - In our place, it's now time for music.

We have with us two of the finest jazz players in Hampton Roads, guitarist Woody Beckner with gym masters on bass, and the piece they'll play is called Basa F Fuzz.

We have hope for this edition of our place, our time.

We have hope Meah writer and speaker and where hope is, there's always good humor and observant eye for our follies and a keen ear for the way we talk.

- I don't know if you know, but my name is Hope.

That's an example of a Tidewater accent.

There's another one that one says, come over to the Hace about three o'clock and we'll have some tea in the garden.

Now, have you noticed what's unique about the Tidewater accent?

It's the vowels, it's the o, the crazy O of Tidewater, Virginia.

I have a theory about that.

If I had plenty of time, I could be what we would call a Sociolinguistic historian and try to figure out why we pronounce our O like that about this way.

I think it's because the first people who settle this area were from England, isn't that right now, somewhere in our subconscious, we still have that English accent because what would an English settler say if he were to say one of those sentences?

He would say, I don't know hope about you.

He would say precisely the same thing.

Maybe that's why we still have it.

It's not just Virginia, of course it's Tidewater in general, North Carolina, coast, Maryland, Delaware.

As you move up, you still have that funny o who settled those regions.

The English.

As a matter of fact, when you get to Maryland, it does a few more odd things.

It's not just, I don't know, it's, I don't now.

Now I'm not sure what happens to it Up in Baltimore, something goes wrong, but the strange O is still there.

Now of course, there's no danger of losing that funny.

A no matter how much television and other accents barge in on us because that's a matter of age.

Have you noticed that between the ages of 12 and 21, every Virginian says, I ain't n that Yee.

Hey, but I'd like to borrow your, can you find me a teenager who doesn't talk like that?

As for the other accent, we are in danger of losing it.

That's what I would call the FFV good old family's accent.

That's a Dwier accent.

Come over to the haze about three and I serve you tea in the den.

Not many people say den anymore.

That's going away.

But you'll notice something about the about in the house, which is what people tease us about.

They say it in Canada too.

Now, who settled Canada?

Some English people.

This is one of my theories.

There's another theory I have and that's this, that when you talk about accents, southerners are really very polite.

People make fun of us all the time.

They make fun of us.

When we say a boat, they make fun of us when we say, I don't now do we make fun of Midwesterners?

Hardly, but we could because the next time Sub Midwesterners says to me, oh, I want you to come over to the house and he have a cheeseburger.

I'm going to laugh.

Bye.

- Thank you for being with us tonight.

We'll be back in two weeks and at that time we're going to take a look at how Hampton Roads archeologists are working to preserve our valuable historical heritage and we'll meet composer on Dean Moore and hear music by We hope you'll be with us then on our place, our time.