The Bo Sang 'Umbrella Villagers' have been making umbrellas for over two centuries in this village just east of the beautiful city of Chiang Mai! The art has been handed down through a small number of families. This typical agricultural village became involved with the introduction of Saa - a paper made from the bark of the mulberry tree - combined with dedication and inherent arts and crafts skills.
This is one of my favorite images - it reminds me of the ballet.
Besides Saa paper, umbrellas are made in silk and cotton, many adorned with hand painted northern Thailand images of scenery, flowers, animals and birds.
I thought the black and white umbrellas just fabulous - unfortunately they were large and would not fit in my luggage. Now of course I'm kicking myself for not shipping some back!
This gentleman was working on a custom order - such a beautiful color, wonder where they were to be used.
There are literally thousands of umbrellas for sale, all hand painted and so pretty. I did manage to bring back a few small ones for some special little girls in my life.
Gorgeous pinks................
..........heavenly blues and sunny yellows. I wanted them all!
Couldn't resist being the center of attention for a minute during the umbrella factory visit. Hey, after riding an elephant the previous day, this was easy!!
All the people at the village were truly dedicated to their work producing these vivid pieces of art. The steps are tedious, their hands showed scars from years of repetitious motions, but pride in their beautiful creations was evident............as it should be.
A beautiful place to visit in Thailand.
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