Not that it’s on the top of everyone’s shopping list, but it ain’t easy to find an interesting Yarmulke or kippah (the skullcaps that are worn by Orthodox men or other jewish men in synagogue or during prayer). Most of them are the familiar navy blue velvet with metallic stitched stars of David or, if you want to be a rebel, there’s the creepy colored hippie-like crochet ones. Once upon a time Jonathan Adler carried a pretty cool one, but he no longer carries it nor is it sold anywhere else.
The Sol Lewitt Modern Yarmulke.
But now you can be sporting an original piece of contemporary art by the late Sol Lewitt on your capi (that’s Yiddish for ‘head’).
This four-panel leather kippah features a digital print of the Star of David that is inspired by the ark doors Lewitt designed for the Connecticut synagogue Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek in 2001.
Lewitt co-designed the Connecticut synagogue with architect Stephen Lloyd and the synagogue tried repeatedly to translate the radiant, geometric design the artist made for the ark doors into the convex form of a yarmulke. When the design was finally achieved it sold out almost instantly and since then there have been six more editions including this one which is the 7th and final.
Each edition varied in trim color and the color of the inside fabric, but all shared the same six-pointed star design, a common motif in the late artist’s work. The 7th edition design features a bright blue trim and a gray interior with the edition details in gold lettering. It is an open edition.
