“Tagua” (Tah-gwaa) is a word that generally refers to Phytelephas aequatorialis or Phytelephas macrocarpa; a tropical palm that can grow up to thirty feet in height. Tagua ranges throughout rainforest from Panama to Columbia and Ecuador to Peru. It tends to grow in swampy areas, as well as in clumps, shaded by the canopy of much larger trees.
The word ‘Tagua’ is also used to refer to the palm’s nut, a substance also called palm ivory, vegetable ivory, corozzo (Britain), coquilla (Brazil), palmivoor, steinnuss (Germany) and binroji (Japan). The nuts themselves range from about one to two inches in diameter, and are made of pure cellulose. When the nuts are raw, they are gel-like and edible. When the nuts dry (a process that takes a few weeks to a few months, depending on weather conditions), they turn rock hard. The tagua itself is very dense, close-grained, and durable.
Before the use of modern plastics, tagua was a very common and popular material. Historically, it was used to make buttons, dominos, chess pieces, netsukes (Japanese carvings), dice, and many other small items. In the 1920’s. 20 % of all the buttons produced in the U.S. were made of tagua, and almost 5 million dollars worth of tagua was exported into the U.S. and Europe every year. In modern day, tagua has fallen out of use for almost all manufacturing applications, but is becoming increasingly popular among craftsman and artisans alike.
The harvest of tagua is a wonderful way to protect endangered rainforest lands — giving people a sustainable, renewable, natural resource that provides both economic stability and an alternative to rainforest destruction. Because of its incredible likeness to animal ivory, tagua is also being used as an ivory and bone substitute — it is so similar, in fact, that it is being used for many museum and historical reproductions of elephant ivory artifacts. In one year, one tagua palm produces as much ivory as an average female African elephant.
Tagua Care
Tagua is a very hard, durable substance, but it is sensitive to water. My tagua pendants have been coated in a clear protective varnish, but are NOT water-safe. Do not take your pendant into the shower or a swimming pool. Water will not destroy the tagua, but it will corrode the design and can possibly cause the pendant itself to warp or crack, if submerged for long enough.
Tagua ‘antiques’ a bit over time, often turning a rich yellow-ivory color with age. This is normal! Some pendants stay snow white and some turn a rich, dark ivory — each tagua slice is unique.
Tagua can be polished by hand with natural waxes (beeswax works well for this) and buffed to a shine. Generally this only needs to be done once a year at most, and can make an older pendant look brand new!