A 19th c. wooden soap holder in original salmon pigmented paint. 
Constructed of a single body of lathe turned maple wood, the body is profiled wide and short with an excellent center of gravity to prohibit accidental tipping. The bowl is very generously bulbous shaped and robust being decorated with incised line decoation and sits atop a footed base. The lip being pronounced and semicurved.
The interior remains extremely dry with shadows of desaturation from lye soap. Faint remnants of lye soap remain in the deep fissures of the interior.
Retains a beautiful surface to its paint, complex and colorful with excellent coverage given its use.
Overall very good original condition with a few scattered fissures being consistent with age and use...surprisingly intact given how caustic lye soap is. 
New England origin. Ca. 1820-1840. 4 1/4"W x 2"T.