Rare Exotic Wood Wine Bottle Stopper

Rare large tunga nut ivory hand turned into a ball shape (est. 3 cm), sitting on top of the exotic African mahogany wood (3.5 cm), combined length 6.0 cm. 

Over all length: 13.4 cm   Chrome Base length: 6.4 cm

African Mahogany is a group of species sourced from west tropical Africa from the Guinea Coast to Cameroon and extending eastward through the Congo basin to Uganda and parts of Sudan.  

The sapwood of African Mahogany is not always clearly differentiated from the heartwood, which is initially a uniform pale pink to red brown color, darkening to a rich mahogany reddish-brown upon exposure.

The grain of African Mahogany veneer may be straight or irregular. It yields a stripe or roey figure on quarter cut veneers and some logs produce veneer that is attractively figured. The texture is variable, but typically medium to coarse and an excellent finish is readily obtained.

Tagua nut Ivory also know as vegetable ivory, is the seed of a palm tree.  Its scientific name is Phytelephas Aequatorialis Macrocarpa or Microcarpa.