Ride the Elevator
M L B 3 2 1 6 5 4 9 8 7

New York Shopping begins at the Online Department Store. Click here and the elevator will speed you to the floor of your choice with cool convenience.

Gotham Grocery
Food Court * Gourmet Gifts for All Occasions

Concierge
Hotel Amenities * Bed & Bath * Luxury Gifts

City Stuff
Cultural Artifacts * Souvenir Arcade

Smith & Wollensky Store
Official Source for Gifts to End All Arguments

Executive Centre
Historic Reproductions * Barrister Bookcases * Executive Seating

Home Décor
Furniture * Tiffany Lighting * Kitchen Work Stations

Library Store
Barrister Bookcases * Cabinets * Distinctive Gifts

Experience Gifts
Gift Vouchers for NYC Activities & Adventures

Mezzanine
Martini Shop * Glassware * Wine Accessories

Confectionery
Soda Fountain * Patisserie * Chocolatier

Bargain Basement
Reduced prices and special discounts on overstock/discontinued items



France's Other Gift to America.


Lamp
Two hundred years ago, the French created illumination for a popular precursor to poker known as "bouillotte." The result was an elegant, practical lamp of the same name. Although the card game faded from memory, this design, a four-arm Bouillotte in polished silver, enjoyed a growing vogue in America during the early decades of the 19th century, and several pieces have become part of the permanent collection of White House furnishings in the first floor formal rooms of state.

The bouillotte "candelabrum" consists of a dish-shaped base--made to hold game tokens — that supports a shaft fitted with candle brackets and a metal shade. The height of the brackets and shade adjusts with screw keys. As the candles burned down, the shade would be lowered via the screw key to shield the players' eyes from the candles' glare.

William Rieder, curator of decorative arts at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, says, "The persistent popularity of the bouillotte lamp is based partly on the world's love of French decorative arts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries." This artifact of not only beautifully illuminates interiors but accommodates today's different-sized desks and tables with its adjustable lampshade.
(Height: 35"; Width: 19"; Base: 9" round; Shade Size: 13" x 19" x 7 1/2")

Bouillotte Lamp.

Price: $599.

E-mail this Gift Idea to a Friend

Availability: SOLD OUT.