WASHINGTON - AFTER decorative plates, commemorative coins and a Barack Obama bobblehead, you can now get your own Barack Obama lava lamp.

The lamp features a striped red-and-white base and blue middle section in which a blob of 'lava' moves up and down in liquid, plus a smiling picture of Mr Obama, who next week will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

'We do a series of rock 'n' roll icons on our lamps but this is the first time we've ever done a political figure of any kind,' Larry Gutkin, the CEO of the Chicago company that makes the Obama lava lamp, told AFP.

'The idea of launching a presidential lava lamp came from Obama's demeanor and personality as much as the fact that both he and we are Chicago-rooted,' Mr Gutkin said of the lamp, which is to be in shops within six to eight weeks.

'And Obama's from Hawaii, which is where a lot of lava comes from,' he joked.

With just one week to go to Mr Obama's swearing-in, merchandise featuring the first African-American US president is being snapped up by people eager to acquire a memento of the historic occasion. -- AFP