Product Search
Advanced SearchTumi Products
Clothes and Accessories Glass Jewellery Recycled Metal & Tin Mexican Tiles & mugs Mini animals & figures Mirrors Musical instruments Nativity & Religious Hand made Amate Paper Panama Hats Paper Mache Plaques Pottery Hammocks & Soft Furnishings Games,Toys & Educational Tumi Publications - Books Wind Chimes Wooden carvings Worry Dolls&Finger Puppets Relaxation Christmas Gift Tokens New ProductsList All Products |
|
|
Advanced Search |
Tumi Gallery
Product Info and Blog
What is Fair Trade?
People often ask: Why fair trade?
When Tumi started in 1978 the word fairtrade was not used in the same way as it is today. But there are organisations in the UK such as Tearcraft and later Tradecrafts and Tumi who developed the concept and tried to show others that you can make viable business in a capitalist society whilst being fair and just with the people who provide you with the income, often the artesans who live in developing countries.
Sign Up to Our Newsletter
| T22090d | ||||||||||
 View Full-Size Image |
Hand carved tagua animal |
|||||||||
| Country of origin: ( Ecuador ) |
||||||||||
|
Price:
£3.50
|
||||||||||
| Ask a question about this product | ||||||||||
These animals are carved out of vegetable ivory or tagua in Ecuador. Tagua nuts come from the female Tagua Palm (Phytelephas aequatorialis) which grows wild in the rainforests of Ecuador and other Latin American countries. The nuts are produced in a spiny seed pod containing anything from 50 to 90 nuts. They are carefully packaged in a sweet pulpy mass until the seed pod ripens, falls and releases the nuts. Insects then eat this natural “packaging” leaving the nut free. The rest of the plant can also be used – the shoots are cooked and eaten, the seeds are also eaten when ripe and the leaves are used for thatching, even the roots have medicinal qualities. When the nuts are polished they have the same characteristics as ivory, which is why the tagua nut is known as "vegetable ivory." The commercial use of tagua provides an important economic incentive for keeping the rainforests in their natural state rather than clearing them for agriculture or logging. The popularity of tagua dates back to the 1920´s when it was used on a large scale, to produce buttons. As these got replaced by plastic, the demand dwindled and only in the last few decades has it gradually become popular again. The sizes of these animals vary but they average at 4-5cm high and 4-5cm wide. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
Customer Reviews:There are yet no reviews for this product.Please log in to write a review. |
||||||||||
Recently Viewed Products
- Hand carved tagua animal (Category: Carved tagua (vegetable ivory) animals)
- Hand carved tagua animal (Category: Carved tagua (vegetable ivory) animals)
- Hand carved tagua animal (Category: Carved tagua (vegetable ivory) animals)
- El Salvadorian Mini set of 3 fish. (Category: Ceramic animals and figures)
- Tagua necklace coloured discs (Category: Tagua (Vegetable Ivory) Jewellery)
Like it? Share it!
Find us on FacebookYour Cart
Your Cart is currently empty.
Store Login
Customer Menu
Free Delivery
For deliveries to the UK we offer free postage and packing for orders over £30 (see terms and conditions)
Delivery to Europe
We are now able to deliver to Europe as well as the UK. Please see our terms and conditions for further details. Customers wishing to have goods shipped elsewhere are kindly requested to email us.
Tumi Links
| Latin American and Cuban Music www.tumimusic.com |
| Tumi Crafts Wholesale Online www.tumiwholesale.com |
Looking for accomodation in Alpujarra, Andalucia, Spain?
www.cortijosreyfini.com |
| Looking for self contained holiday home in Santiago, Chile? www.refugiofinichico.com |
