Swallow
Neighborhood: Carroll Gardens
Type of Place: Antiques/Crafts
Description:
If you're headed to Swallow, in Carroll Gardens, you might consider leaving your dog, your toddler, or any other potentially rambunctious creatures at home. This is not the place for unplanned movements (sudden gleeful arm waves, stray tail wags), but it's a terrific spot to find unique and extraordinary objects of beauty.
Swallow, which opened November of 1998, carries the work of many local artists—though some of the handcrafted objects on display might come from as far away as Japan or Australia. In choosing the shop's selection of blown-glass items, ceramics, home accessories, and jewelry, "we go toward the organic," says co-owner Anne Prosser. "We're inspired by nature a
lot—everything starts to look like something else." Thus you'll find necklaces, adorned with semiprecious stones, that resemble budding spring branches (crafted by Swallow's other co-owner, Ria Charisse); rocks and minerals that have morphed into bookends and paperweights (or is it the other way around?); and blown-glass insect figurines (the black spiders of various sizes are remarkable). Blown-glass pieces range from around $50 for a small bowl or vase to $1000 for a spectacular tricolored vase with a loose plaid design. Swallow's relationship with its artists tends to be as organic as its merchandise, and inventory will vary based on who has sent material and what they've sent.
Currently in stock are lovely, whimsical, and functional glass bowls in blue, green, pink, or purple with a swirling white interior design by the Burlington, Vermont crafts team Church and Maple ($89); a sturdy yet graceful ceramic vase in avacado by Williamsburg's own Klein Reid ($62); colorful glass hearts on velvet ribbons by Alice Sturzinger ($19); and a stunning glass vase in pure red by Dan Wooddell of California ($198). Smaller items can start at around $5; charming rose-shaped rings, for example, are available in six colors and sell for $8. With transluscent glass pieces catching the sun sun through the front window, a fountain flowing quietly in back, pale wood flooring that Prosser herself installed, and pitted silver walls that continue the shop's organic themes, Swallow is a beautiful space. Enjoy it for its design and its equally beautiful wares; then, renewed, you can re-enter the more chaotic world at large.
- Pamela Grossman; 03/2004
Swallow
361 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY
718-222-8201
Map
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