Tagua Nut Elephant
Watching tagua go from scruffy looking nuts to beautiful carved animals was one of the unforgettable experiences I had in Ecuador.
In Washington’s workshop in a little village near Montecristi, I watched as a proud little elephant emerged from the single nut he picked from a loose pile against a cement block wall.
In his shop, which employs several people and supports Washington’s family, there are several stations with grinding and polishing tools. At each station, the carvings are carefully shaped and manicured into beautiful, but unique, perfection.
First he cut the top and bottom off the nearly 3-inch traingular shaped nut. The solid white flesh was exposed as he took the squared off nut to a grinding station. Quickly and skillfully, Washington held the nut against the grinding wheel to begin to give it a shape. The hump of the back emerged, then the head, followed by the legs. Last, the beginnings of a trunk poked out of the head. He held it up so that we could see, while explaining what he was doing.
Next he took the newborn tagua elephant to a polishing wheel. After grinding, the surface of the elephant was grainy and dull. Achieving the glossy finish of the final product took several polishing steps. Washington continued to work on the elephant by polishing away the rough edges and further refining the shape of our new little friend.
After taking off the rough spots, Washington took out his portable drill and began scoring details into the surface. Then he drilled small holed for the tusks.
Finally, our little elephant went to the last station. Here, one of Washington’s workers continued the polishing process. The little elephant was polished several times with finer and finer sand paper on the wheel.
At last, just as in real life, our elephant got little tusks which had been shined on the same wheel.
It all took less than twenty minutes, but was certainly more involved than I would have imagined. There is much more work required than we saw. The nuts have to be collected by liberating them from massive fruit pods that look like a giant spiny clutch of eggs.
Washington is one of the most skilled tagua carvers in Ecuador. We’ll be featuring some of his work soon!
Keep shopping your good values!