People’s obsession for the yellow metal is not new and often this obsession takes a quirky turn. The lavish metal can be possessed in many form, from jewellery to dresses, we have seen people owing gold in different forms.

Adding to this list of items made of solid gold, Guggenheim Museum in New York unveiled its latest installation on Friday (September 16) – a solid gold toilet called America. Designed and made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, it is a fully functional toilet made of solid 18-carat-gold, the Guardian reported.

According to the report, the toilet is open for general visitors visiting the museum and not reserved just for display. “Visitors to the museum are able to use the golden toilet in much the same way as they would use a normal toilet. It is located in a standard, pre-existing bathroom on the fourth floor of the museum, a small placard the only indication of its presence,” the report added.

The new golden toilet was created to the exact proportions of the existing ones at the Guggenheim Museum. “The museum shipped two toilets to Italy, where Cattelan cast the golden toilet in several parts before welding it together,” said the report.

Wondering what provoked him to name the lavish toilet America? well it’s none other than Republican candidate for the US Elections 2016 Donald Trump. In the press release by the museum, the gold toilet was linked to Donald Trump. “The aesthetics of this ‘throne’ recall nothing so much as the gilded excess of Trump’s real-estate ventures and private residences,” it said. It is a known fact that Trump has golden chairs in his New York City penthouse.

Cattelan has also said that the toilet is “one-percent art for the ninety-nine percent,” the press note added.

However, when it comes to golden toilets, Cattelan’s art is not the first one. Yes, the world has witness posh lavatories before. Flamboyant spending was done by Saudi King Abdullah ibn Abdilaziz, when he gifted a pure gold toilet to his daughter as a wedding present. In 2014, the King spent few millions to build her the toilet and it hit the headlines.

But way before the Saudi royal family gained rapport for this extravaganza; reports suggest that Saddam Hussien of Iraq too had a lavish bathroom with gold knobs, and touches. There was also report by Fox News that said, Saddam had gold toilet-paper dispenser and the gold-handled toilet bowl brush in one of Saddam’s palaces.

In 2013, there were reports that Kim Kardashian too invested in gold toilets. According to a Daily Mail report Kim and her husband Kenya West spent whopping $750,000 on four gold-plated toilets for their sprawling Bel Air home.

But the world’s most expensive toilet is that of the Hang Fung jeweller’s solid gold bathroom. The Hong Kong jeweller’s rather luxurious toilet is made of solid 24-carat gold and coated with gems. The bathroom was the brainchild of jeweler Lam Sai-wing and everything in it — sinks, tiles and doors — is also made of solid gold.

Well, while rest of the world’s golden toilets were reserved for the uber rich, Cattelan’s work of art can be used by the common man.

-IANS