Unique Hardwood Art products are made from exotic Central and South American hardwoods.  All products are handcrafted by indigenous artisans licensed to remove the fallen trees from the rain forest.  No trees are ever cut down for the creation of Unique Hardwood Art products.  Stain or paint is never used to enhance the natural beauty of the woods.

Cocobolo, one of the true tropical rosewoods, is a very beautiful wood, ranging from a beautiful rich dark brick red, to reddish or dark brown, with a figuring of darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. It is fine textured and oily in look and feel. The wood has excellent working characteristics and the natural oils give the wood a natural luster.

Cocobolo is highly durable and strong, but, because of its scarcity and high value, it is used for its rare beauty rather than its strength or durability. Only small amounts of this prized wood reach the world market, and usually in pieces of small dimension.

Cocobolo is a collectors wood becoming higher in value constantly.

Purpleheart, one of the most distinctive woods in the world, is prized for its very unusual deep purple color. When freshly cut, this dense hardwood is light brown. Within minutes the surface turns an astonishing bright purple. Upon prolonged exposure to sunlight, the color gradually changes to a chocolate-purple color.

This beautiful wood is straight to wavy grained, fine and uniform textured and fairly smooth with a medium to high luster. Purpleheart turns smoothly, is easy to glue, takes finishes well and is highly durable.

Chonta is an indigenous name given to a number of palm varieties throughout the tropical Americas. The chonta used in our art pieces is a small palm from the Caribbean lowlands in northeast Costa Rica. The locals sometimes refer to the plant as palmilera.

The chonta is characterized by roots that grow from the trunk, through the air and into the soil. Some of the pieces show this root. The removal of standing chonta is illegal.  The dead, standing palm decays out from the center and this space is used by birds for nesting. The palm eventually falls down and only then is the tree removed to provide raw material for art pieces. As the center of the palm has rotted out, the artisan inlays pieces of precious wood in the empty space. Often parts of the trunk have broken off or rotted away giving some of the pieces a fragmented look. Chonta is extremely hard; sharp carbide tools are needed to cut the wood.

Ron-ron ranges in color from light to reddish brown to deep mahogany red-brown with a striking figure created by beautiful, bold, brown to nearly black irregular markings or striping. The texture is fine to medium and uniform, with a fine grain, varying from straight to interlocked and wavy. In spite of its high density, ron-ron turns readily, carves well, finishes very smoothly, and takes a beautiful natural polish.

The wood is rated highly durable and has strength values considerably higher than any well-known U.S. species.

Ironwood heartwood is light to dark olive brown, often with attractive lighter or darker striping and striking contrasts with the lighter color sapwood. It has a fine texture, medium luster, and a somewhat oily appearance.

Ironwood is very hard (two to three times as hard as oak), very strong and very heavy. It weighs approximately 70 pounds per cubic foot and sinks in water.

Ironwood is rated as extremely durable.

Teak is a beautiful golden to dark brown, sometimes reddish brown, with a straight grain, sometimes wavy. Teak is rich in natural oils, is easily worked, and dresses to a very smooth finish.

Because of its natural oils, teak is very durable and resistant to moisture and the drying effects of exposure to weather.

Teak is unique in that it does not cause rust or corrosion when in contact with metal.

Guapinol, Brazilian cherry a beautiful wood the color of honey, is ideal for unique serving bowls, glassware and serving trays.

The unique grain gives this wood distinctive lines and the color is warm and rich.