Jeweled book jacket slated for donation to Smithsonian Institution
By APMonday, August 17, 2009
San Francisco jeweler dresses up his biography
WASHINGTON — When a man who spent a lifetime adorning the special and the ordinary is the subject of a biography, what’s the next logical step? A jeweled book jacket, of course.
San Francisco artist and jeweler Sidney Mobell created the slip cover for “One of a Kind,” a volume featuring his life and creations.
Mobell’s work has been featured in exhibitions and several items are on display in the Smithsonian Institution. It includes a solid gold mousetrap — what mouse could resist — as well as cell phones and sardine cans made from gold and gems.
Among the items he has donated to the Smithsonian are a gold necklace featuring an eye made of white and blue diamonds; a full-size 23-karat gold Monopoly board with tokens, houses, hotels and dice in 18-karat gold with diamonds, rubies and sapphires and a set of gold dominoes set with 420 diamonds.
Mobell says the grand book jacket will be headed for the museum also.
