Tagua Carvings From Panama

I recently received an e-mail from one of the readers of Lingua Franca. His name is Richard Staigg and lives in Florida.  During his visit to Panama, he purchased a couple of tagua carvings which I find very attractive.  He wanted to share with us a couple of pictures he had of these souvenirs.

This is what he said:

“I love the artisinal market and have visited it several times. I especially like the tagua carvings. I think they are an exceptional native art form.

Unfortunately you can’t send photos to your comment section but I wanted to show you a couple that I brought back to the States from my last trip.

The scorpion fish and the turtles are quite fragile but fortunately I was able to get them back in one piece. You’re free to add them to a post if you want.

Richard”

Below are three gorgeous pictures of Richard’s Panama tagua carvings.  Here we go.

Photograph of a turtle hatching carved in tagua by the Darien Indians of Panama. (Credit: Richard Staigg)

Photograph of three sea turtles. Notice the beauty of the corals behind them. A unique piece of folk art from Panama. (Credit: Richard Staigg)

Another view of the three sea turles carved in tagua seeds. (Credit: Richard Staigg)

I would like to explain that tagua is a vegetable ivory obtained from a special variety of palm—Phytelephas—found in southern Panama along the Andes to Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. They are commonly known as ivory palms, ivory-nut pals or tagua palms. Their  scientific name means “plant elephant”.   This and the first two of the common names refer to the very hard white endosperm  of their seeds (tagua nuts), which resembles elephant ivory.

Given trade restrictions in elephant ivory as well as animal welfare concerns, ivory palm endosperm is often used as a substitute for elephant ivory today, and traded as vegetable ivory, palm ivory, corozo or tagua. When dried out, it can be carved just like elephant ivory.  It  is often used for beads, buttons, figurines and jewelry, and can be dyed.

I wish to thank Richard for his valuable contribution to Lingua Franca. Good Day.

Source:  Phytelephas – Wikipedia Encyclopedia

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