Only 25 of these will be made available for sale to the public.
John D. Rockefeller founds the Standard Oil Company; Thomas Edison turns on the first functioning light bulb, and writers such as Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott and Henry James publish some of their finest works. During this same time, 1870 to 1880, Brunswick Billiards was impressing connoisseurs across the country with its Exposition Novelty table, which is now being resurrected in honor of Brunswick Billiard’s 165-year anniversary celebration taking place in 2010. The 1878 J.M. Brunswick and Balke Co. catalog defined the Exposition Novelty as a table manufactured for “gentlemen’s private residences” that was “a marvel of artistic excellence.” With its superb workmanship, exquisite and elaborate inlay, and elegantly carved leg, the Exposition Novelty represents the contrast between that 19th Century decade’s sophisticated culture of innovation and the country’s untamed west. Accordingly, this stately and detailed table was a judge’s favorite of the age, winning gold medals in San Francisco and Cincinnati, and, as the 1878 catalog states, “wherever exhibited.” – From AZ Billiards