Special Wounaan Indian Tagua Parrot Carving-Panama 20120414L

Folks, this is an unusual carving in the sense that after it was carved it was dyed. It was dyed in a cocobolo wood dye that the basket artists make for their basket fiber. Usually the basket artists are women and the tagua carvers are men. So what happens is the tagua artists dip their carvings in their wive's dye. The key to the result is the length of time the carving remains submerged. Then the artist then "carved" away the area that is now white. This results in a carving with two colors.

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Each tagua carving is a one-of-a-kind treasure.