Human Flower Project
Orrington, MAINE USA
Murrieta, CALIFORNIA USA
Princeton, MAINE USA
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Lathering Flowers
Carvers of Thailand whittle roses to bathe with.
Soap flowers
Photos: via Damn Funny Pictures
Put away your rubber ducky. This calls for a swan.
Our cousin Barbie sent along some knockout pictures of soap flowers that have been slipping through cyberspace. These clearly aren’t molded soaps but hand-carved chrysanthemums and hydrangeas. Our best guess is that they were made in Thailand, apparently the capitol of this fragrant handicraft.
Soap hydrangea
Wiki describes two-types of soap flowers: modeled out of paste and turned out on lathes. But these whittled ones are far more interesting than eithe rof those. Check out this full-length video that Indradeep Biswas made on the streets of Chiang Mai. Great close-up of the carving and white blossom, but where’s the face of the human maker?
There are several businesses selling soap flowers out of Hawaii and China. This Thai company trades in both “add-a-petal” blossoms and carved ones, including sunflowers, orchids, even whole flower baskets and soap topiaries.
Do you have a bath-resistent tyke around the house? Hand that child a soap sunflower and watch the ablutions begin.