Brunswick Billiards' Replica 1878 Table

Even the most steel-eyed hustler might pause for a moment before breaking a rack on the latest offering from Brunswick Billiards: a replica of the company's Exposition Novelty Table from 1878. The iconic pool-table manufacturer has produced scores of models since its founding (by a Cincinnati carriage maker) in 1845, but it is this one that Brunswick has chosen to reproduce in honor of its 165th anniversary. Beginning in October, the company will offer for sale 25 renditions of the exquisite 9-foot-long table -- at a cost of $39,999, including a matching cue stick and cue rack.

An award-winner in its day, Brunswick says, the Exposition Novelty Table artistically blended sophisticated nineteenth-century refinement with the aesthetic of a still largely untamed American West. It sits on beveled legs of solid white oak and is adorned with a variety of richly grained veneers, brass rosettes, and rail sights made from Asian water buffalo bone.