Welcome to SoapCarvingArt

Intricate Artistry With a Knife

In addition to her passion for fruit and vegetable carving shown on her Veggy Gifts web site, Yung Cohn did similar carving on bars of soap.

Yung was one of the few who had studied the art of both Thai fruit carving and soap carving under Chef Jean-Marc Montjarret.  The gallery page is presented as a memorial to her art work.



The Art of Soap Carving/Sculpting

Hand carved soap flowers originated in the village of Chian Rai, in Northern Thailand. The villagers started carving soaps as a hobby while they were off from working on their farms. Those carved soap flowers were then sold at the night bazaar along with various other handcrafted souvenirs.

This Thai soap carving art is not widely practiced in this country. There are a few carving artists on the West coast who practice this rare art. Among them, one very well known and highly regarded carving artist, Chef Jean-Marc Montjarret, who learned the art of Thai soap carving while living in Thailand, brought this great art to the US when he made his residence in California.

Over the years, Chef Jean-Marc has mastered this art and has generously imparted his knowledge to his students.