Crate & Barrel’s New Lucia Eames Collection Includes a Modern Heirloom-Quality Menorah
It’s as elegant as can be, and just $80.
Published Oct 13, 2022 8:55 AM
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Bringing the unrealized work of an artist to life would prove challenging for any brand, but having a hand-drawn road map certainly helps. Crate & Barrel’s collection with the Lucia Eames Archive, which debuts today, draws exclusively from the designer’s rarely seen works. With the help of the Eames family and Form Portfolios, the retailer unearthed sketches of products to draw inspiration from or reproduce. “It was central to our process to think through: What would Lucia want? What would she like or dislike?” Sebastian Brauer, Crate & Barrel’s senior vice president of product design, shares. “The family was right there with us helping unlock all of that through their memories.”
A designer and artist—much like the iconic couple, Charles and Ray, who raised her—Eames is perhaps best known for her sculptural metalwork and striking graphics, both of which appear in this new collection. But of all the new-vintage treasures, a favorite that stands out by a mile is the Lucia Menorah. The Hanukkah holiday centerpiece is elegant, eye-catching, and versatile all at once.
Lucia Eames for Crate & Barrel Lucia Menorah
Classic without leaning too traditional and made of stainless steel, the lithe Lucia is adorned in the most restrained way. Symmetrical curves punctuated by eight knobs and nine candleholders underscore Eames’s commitment to balance, simplicity of form, and a bit of whimsy—even in an object of ritual nature. The piece—called Yovel (Jubilee)—was designed nearly 30 years ago for an exhibition at the Jewish Museum of San Francisco called “Light Interpretations: A Hanukkah Menorah Invitational.” It was never produced, until now. “The final product is almost exactly like the designs we originally found and her first original sketch,” says Brauer. It’s a work of art worthy of year-round display, nestled among books and other items on a shelf or resting in a display hutch.
The Crate & Barrel Lucia Eames collection offers more holiday and home decor, too, with prices ranging from $8 for small plates to $400 for king-size quilts. There’s a little something for everyone, whether your color preference skews bold blacks and reds or muted golds and creams. Other highlights include porcelain ornaments (most notably the Sunbursts and a rendition of Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream), laser-cut iron tapers to mix and match, and various elegant staples from serveware to table linens to soft goods.
