Figurines Tagua Exotic Ivory | Vegetable Ivory Decor Ecuador | Tagua Collectible

Handmade Figurines. Hand made decor from ecuador. In this section you will find a wide variety of figurines, such as cats, dogs, horses, airplanes, vessels, galleons, lions, turtles, islands, etc; Also we offer Handmade christmas crafts and hand made christmas ornaments manufactured by ecuadorian artisans, such as Nativity scenes, Santa ornaments, Christmas angels ornaments, mini christmas ornaments elaborated with tagua nutsand much more. Our collectibles are ideal for home decor, gifts, souvenirs, collectibles, and many other purposes. Can we customized figurines? Yes! We can manufacture any figurine you like in tagua seeds, tagua nuts, tagua ecuador.

Our hand made souveneers ecuador are an excellent choice for gifts. Surprise your family, friends and even yourself with our ecuadorian handcrafts made out of tagua, vegetable ivory, exotic ivory.

Please keep in mind Tagua is the fruit of a plant; Tagua is 100% natural and ecological, and; We are elephant friendly! We DON'T use elephant tusks!

100% tagua collectible Ecuador.

 

-- A Little History About Tagua --

TAGUA ECUADOR also known as Vegetable Ivory, corozo, or Exotic Ivory, is the dried and polished nuts of several South American palms. Tagua is remarkably similar to animal ivory in both looks and feel. Tagua is durable and easily carved, and it even mimics the porosity of animal ivory. The biggest difference: Elephant do not have to die. Evidently those similarities were not lost on early botanists who named the palm genus Phytelephas-"elephant plant." Versatility is only one of Tagua virtues. It is also infinitely renewable. In a single year, a female Tagua tree can produce 20 pounds of tagua nuts - that's about the amount of ivory on an average female elephant. The elephant, however, yields its ivory only once; the tree continues producing nuts year after year. The idea of using palm nuts as type of ersatz ivory is hardly new; it goes back more than 100 years. In 1865, a ship sailing from South America to Germany used a load of Tagua nuts as ballast. When the vessel docked in Hamburg, curious stevedores began playing with the Tagua and noticed its ivory like characteristics. Tagua quickly became one of Ecuador 's leading exports to Europe. Craftsmen used the nuts to fashion handmade decor pieces and souvenir handicrafts, from tagua chess pieces, tagua figures for decoration, to tagua buttons and tagua umbrella handles. In the early part of this century, Colombia and Ecuador were exporting some 40,000 tons of the material annually to the United States and Europe. After the World War II, competition from an inexpensive new synthetic called plastic wipes out the Tagua trade. Now that the world is waking up to the growing environmental problems which face our planet today and that environmental concerns are getting higher on the world's agenda that ever before, the use of Tagua is getting renewed. Commerce in vegetable ivory decor is helping foster respect for Rain Forests in Ecuador, and it is doing so through the nondestructive exploitation of a renewable resource.

TAGUA IS NOT ONLY USEFUL FOR MAKING BUTTONS AND SOUVENIR HANDYCRAFT MADE IN ECUADOR, BUT ALSO IT SAVES ELEPHANTS AND RAIN FORESTS.