# Can anyone find me a tabletop sized Cloud Gate ("Chicago Bean")? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155 "2013-05-12T15:21:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/1 "2013-05-12T15:21:04Z")
[Cloud Gate](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tSl4JWhhzsY/TOP3Jj_H-II/AAAAAAAAAW0/6MNL7y3TngU/s1600/0122_chicago-bean-sculpture_8.jpg) Mom wants one for her new dining room table. I can only find prints and coasters and placemats. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/2 "2013-05-12T15:24:44Z")
I don’t think they make them. The artist is very particular about licensing the “Bean” and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that he won’t let anybody make replicas. I’d love to be proven wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/3 "2013-05-12T16:42:32Z")
I’ve only ever seen [this model](http://www.flickr.com/photos/no22a/427683670/)at the Chicago History Museum but I doubt there are copies for sale. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/4 "2013-05-12T16:47:20Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I don’t think they make them. The artist is very particular about licensing the “Bean” and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that he won’t let anybody make replicas. I’d love to be proven wrong though. I think you _meant_ to say that the artist has been an absolute jerk who was fortunate enough to produce something that has become an icon for a city and is pushing copyright into the realm of absurdity. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/5 "2013-05-12T17:30:52Z")
If I was the artist, I wouldn’t want to see cheap plastic copies of my work being sold in souvenir shops, so I understand his refusal to permit reproductions. Small copies (one-tenth scale) were given to attendees of the NATO summit as a special gift but they were made by the company that makes the Oscar awards out of solid zinc and plated in silver, so presumably this was not cheap. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/6 "2013-05-12T18:06:59Z")
In most large cities, there are print shops that specialize in large prints of photos (like you see on buses and billboards). You might want to see what they would charge for a single printing of a photo in the dimensions you need for this table. Of course, you would have to see about laminating it or whatever…perhaps they have a special process to do that as well. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/7 "2013-05-12T18:14:27Z")
Well, bah humbug. That’s what I was afraid of. Thank you for the effort! ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/8 "2013-05-12T22:36:02Z")
[How about this?](http://www.rubylane.com/item/419645-2009-0822B/Retro-Mid-Century-Modern-Chrome) [Or this?](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tall-Sphere-Ball-Table-Top-Sculpture-Polished-Chrome-/110680653081) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/9 "2013-05-13T03:18:49Z")
Very cool, moriah, thank you for the ideas. I’ll send them to my Mom and see if she likes one. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/10 "2013-05-13T03:30:00Z")
They make large steel or chromed “gazing balls” for garden ornaments. You’d just need to find a small stand suitable for setting it on a table. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/11 "2013-05-13T04:04:32Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I think you _meant_ to say that the artist has been an absolute jerk who was fortunate enough to produce something that has become an icon for a city and is pushing copyright into the realm of absurdity. On the bright side, I understand that the nickname “The Bean” pisses him off. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-find-me-a-tabletop-sized-cloud-gate-chicago-bean/658155/12 "2013-05-13T05:02:52Z")
Thank you, **Tangent**! I’ll add that to the list of ideas. That’s what I’d pick for my table, but my mom and I have almost diametrically opposed senses of home design, so I can never quite guess what she’ll like.