A Wide World of Gifts at Chicago Museums

Good news for shoppers who crave international treasures but who don’t want to pursue them around the globe: Chicago’s museum shops offer access to unusual riches. And you don’t have to leave the United States to buy them.

The Field Museum of Natural History (1200 S. Lake Shore Drive) has five shops--four in the museum and another at the Ford City Shopping Mall, 7601 S. Cicero. They sell remarkable crafts as well as geological pieces. There are great toys, books, clothing and jewelry.

In addition to handcrafted items (ranging in price from $5 to $100), there are special one-of-a-kind objects. Among them are: a hand-thrown sculptural clay vessel ($4,500) by Hopi-Tewa potter Joy Navasi; an intricately carved wooden moon mask ($135) or crowned King figure ($205) from Ghana; a Mexican hobby horse with a blond hemp tail ($76); a blue-and-green ceramic Japanese saki jug with rosewood lid and silk rope handle ($298); Indonesian Tjap blocks used for printing patterns on fabric (from $10); African tribal jewelry (from $24), and Eskimo-carved soapstone sculptures (from $35). T-shirts, mugs and pens cost $2 to $15.

The shop at Adler Planetarium (1300 S. Lake Shore Drive) features telescopes of various sizes and capabilities that bring planets and stars closer, plus affordable star charts ($10 and up), globes mapping the heavens instead of Earth’s surface ($70), machines projecting constellations ($30), and interesting mobiles ($10 and up). Solar cells ($9) harness the power of the sun to set small machines in motion. Also sold are T-shirts with star charts ($8 to $16), constellations and portraits of Albert Einstein and other famous scientists.

Make the transition from space to sea at John G. Shedd Aquarium (1200 S. Lake Shore Drive), where more than 8,000 aquatic animals representing 800 species from all parts of the world inhabit fresh and saltwater exhibits. The two shops are stocked with items revealing the wonders and beauty of the sea.

There are mother-of-pearl bracelets ($2 and up), shell earrings ($4 and up) and necklaces ($10 and up), plus beautiful shell specimens. Colorful ties ($8) and T-shirts picture fish ($10 for adult sizes, $8 for children). The selection of books about the sea is impressive, and there are postcards with ocean themes. Other gift possibilities include dolphin and whale pins ($2 and up) and stuffed fish toys, hand-carved wooden fish, fish mobiles and wooden fish puzzles, all priced between $16 and $40.

The four shops at the Museum of Science and Industry (South Lake Shore Drive at East 57th) feature an eclectic collection ranging from Albert Einstein dolls ($499) to electricity experiment kits and board games about geography and pollution.

For the would-be space traveler: astronaut freeze-dried food, including everything from French fries to ice cream sandwiches (from $2.50 per item); an eight-foot night-sky star stencil ($25) that can be used to create the heavens on ceilings or walls, and a plasma ball ($150) containing rare Earth gasses that can be used as a light. Book sections contain titles on all aspects of science and technology.

The shop at the Art Institute of Chicago (South Michigan Avenue at East Adams Street) offers an excellent and far-reaching collection of posters, cards, calendars, books and periodicals about fine and applied art and architecture, as well as toys and games, jewelry and home decorating items.

There are Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired stained-glass panels (from $68), sets of colorful art cubes designed by Vasa ($340), and an Art Memo Game ($28) featuring reproductions of paintings from 23 American and European museums. Jewelry, inspired by museum art and created for the shop, includes baroque pearl earrings (after Rembrandt) for $385, as well as artist signature items including mugs ($9), lunch boxes ($10) and portfolios ($13). The Art Institute has a satellite shop at 900 N. Michigan Ave.

The Museum of Contemporary Art shop (237 E. Ontario St.) features high-tech gift items, including Spirix matte black and terra-cotta card files ($42) and desktop calculators ($52), porcelain plates with Robert Mapplethorpe flower images ($125) and Robert Mapplethorpe books (from $25), amusing animal finger puppets ($11 each) and charming animal print earthenware bowls ($95), pitchers ($85) and cafe au lait bowls ($34). Exclusive products include artist-designed mugs ($10), T-shirts ($16) and books ($50).

The Chicago Historical Society shop (Clark Street at North Avenue) is filled with marvelous reproductions of historical objects from the museum’s collection, including leaded-glass panels ($150), do-it-yourself linen and floss samplers ($31 and up) and quilt note cards (six for $12), plus an assortment of gift items and selection of titles based on every aspect of Chicago’s history and contemporary life.

At The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (951 Chicago Ave., Oak Park), the Ginkgo Tree Bookshop sells books ($4 to $22) about Wright’s achievements and about architecture in general, plus reproductions of objects designed by Wright and his contemporaries.

Wright’s china pattern for Japan’s Imperial Hotel, now reproduced by Moritake, costs $175 per five-piece setting. Wright-motif leaded-glass panels are $170, reproduction plaster “stork panels” (designed for Wright’s studio entrance) cost $195, and Tiffany reproductions of Wright’s 1929 candle holders are $130 to $180.