(MONEY Magazine) – Looking for gift ideas? How about a bronze sculpture by Frederic Remington? Or a gold bangle that once circled Cleopatra's arm? Or a Chippendale chair that graced Thomas Jefferson's Monticello? High-quality replicas of these and other priceless treasures from Michelangelo to Mies van der Rohe, from the Age of Pericles to the outposts of postmodernism, are available at thousands of museum shops. All told, of the 8,000 museums in this country, almost 3,000 operate shops, compared with about 1,600 five years ago. Many have even moved beyond the museum compound and have opened outlets in malls, train stations and on swank boulevards. Moreover, about a dozen big-city museums now send out handsome full-color catalogues, compared with none a mere decade ago. This year alone, the museum retail biz, which dates back to the 1870s, will bring in estimated revenues of $500 million, up from $200 million in 1985. There's good reason for that explosive growth. Museum shops offer terrific value. ''Buying a reproduction from a museum shop,'' explains Bradford Kelleher, merchandising consultant at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, ''automatically makes you feel you have something of merit.'' And you usually do. In general, museum-shop merchandise carries a pedigree of quality. Wares are meticulously crafted by artisans who work closely with curators. Prices, meanwhile, run the gamut, from $25 for a gold-plated statue of an Egyptian youth and $40 for plates from designs by Mexican artist Diego Rivera to $1,150 for a reproduction gold scarab bracelet dating from 2133-1633 B.C. But overall, prices are reasonable because museums' tax-exempt status keeps their overhead low. Still, standards and values vary from shop to shop. Even at the best of stores, you'll find a dose of kitsch among the high-class knockoffs -- a plastic botanical-print coaster alongside an Etruscan bust. Shoppers are wise to question salesclerks and phone-order operators about reproduction techniques, design sources and materials used in the products. The unquestioned leader and pioneer of museum merchandise is New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Revenues are expected to hit $74.1 million this year from a frequently published mail-order catalogue and a chain of 15 shops, including five boutiques that just opened in Japan. The jewel of the Met crown is a 6,000-square-foot, two-story store launched last year in New York City's sleek Rockefeller Center. With its terrazzo floors, velvet-lined display cases and dramatic lighting, the shop is the very model of the modern museum emporium, selling high-class jewelry, desk and tabletop accessories, reproduction sculpture and paintings, and children's toys and books.

Other museums -- both in their shops and catalogues -- offer more predictable attractions from their collections. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Chicago Art Institute Museum, for example, focus on tasteful and well-priced note cards or posters of old masters, popular Impressionists and contemporary artists. On the whole, though, the range of what museum merchandisers reproduce is expanding year by year, as the public appetite gets whetted and more sophisticated. The Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, for instance, features 20th-century artifacts like NASA ice cream and World War II flight jackets. Knocking off treasures, in fact, has proved such brisk business that two for-profit retailers have joined the game. Since 1989, the New Jersey-based Museum Co., with 19 stores nationwide, has been selling reproductions from the collections of more than 200 museums around the world. Next year, the Museum Co. plans 18 more stores. In addition, Boston-based Museum Publications of America has more than 375 products chosen from 37 museums around the world in its Museum Collections catalogue, which this year will be sent to 6 million households. Both merchants offer a wide range of quality goods and access to treasures from foreign museums, but many of their wares cost more than comparable goods in authentic museum shops. For example, a reproduction of a bust of the Greek god Poseidon sells for $98 through Museum Collections, while the Met offers one almost the same for only $50. What's more, about 10% to 30% of the offerings from the for-profit companies have no museum connection at all. In the Museum Collections catalogue, for instance, you'll find a picture frame made from seashells and even that ubiquitous mail-order staple -- a wrought- iron wine rack. Far less often, true museum shops also sell some nonmuseum merchandise. Therefore, it's always wise to ask whether the product is actually based on an original artwork. Winterthur, the Delaware museum of Early American decorative arts, does offer very fine reproductions of priceless furnishings and art. You'll also find, however, ordinary garnet bracelets and floral chintz tote bags that have never been on exhibit anywhere. And the High Museum in Atlanta features pedestrian blue and white ceramic table lamps and bowls made in China that look more IKEA than Imari. When shopping, be on the lookout for code words such as inspired or adapted or influenced. That means you're not getting a true copy of an art treasure. Other tips: -- You will always find higher-end selections in the catalogues than in the museum shops. The best catalogues, with the most extensive offerings, are from the Smithsonian, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and, of course, the Metropolitan (to get a catalogue, see the box on page 124). -- Joining a museum might be thrifty as well as philanthropic. Members get discounts on all wares, usually about 10% but as much as 40% during a sale. -- Even with museum wares, you get what you pay for. The look of reproduction pieces may be authentic and finely detailed, but don't expect the weight or permanence of originals. When buying jewelry, for instance, remember that gold electroplate is a fragile veneer and, if worn frequently, is apt to chip. Shops do offer the same pieces in 14- and 24-karat gold but at close to 10 times the price. When purchasing gemstone jewelry, ask about the stones and the settings. Often, ''stones'' are really glass, and the best is lead crystal from Germany and Austria. Check whether stones are dyed to appear more valuable. Also, settings may be too weak to hold the stones securely, because reproduction settings are not as custom-tailored as originals. If you're considering sculptures: Most copies of marble busts are made from a mixture of 65% crushed marble and 35% plastic, then hand-painted. The plastic makes the pieces rather lightweight. They may look great on the wall or the shelf, but they lack the authentic heft of solid marble. Similarly, many ''bronze'' statues are bonded-bronze reproductions, such as the Metropolitan Museum's miniature Walking Lion ($98). Bonded bronze is a plastic or polymer resin mixed with bronze powder and then hand-painted to resemble the original sculpture. -- Ceramics and free-blown glass merchandise are often good buys because the ceramicists are highly skilled craftsmen who work by hand. And usually the designs are classic or unique. Museums do offer well-priced, high-class, unusual gifts, but -- bottom line -- like anywhere else, the rule is caveat emptor.

BOX: SHOPPING THE CATALOGUES

Some museum shops also sell through mail-order catalogues. Be sure to order by Dec. 10 for holiday delivery: -- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; 800-468-7836 -- The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; 703-455-1700 -- Museum of Modern Art, New York City; 800-447-6662 -- The Chicago Art Institute Museum; 800-621-9337 -- The High Museum, Atlanta; 404-898-1151 -- The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; 800-225-5592 -- Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Del.; 302-888-4800 -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art; 213-857-6505 -- Mystic Seaport Museum Stores, Mystic, Conn.; 800-662-6323 -- Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyo.; 800-533-3838 -- B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore; 301-539-2311 -- Museum Collections, Westerville, Ohio; 800-442-2460