Jequitibá Rosa (Cariniana legalis), also called Abarco, comes from Brazil, Colombia and Venezuelas tropical regions of South America. The medium-hard wood comes from real gigantic trees, it is pale pink to reddish, light weighted and resembles mahogany. The wood has a long tradition in the sugar trade between the Caribbean (West India), South America and European sea harbors. Before sugar was produced in Europe, all raw sugar gained from sugar canes came in large, coffin-sized wooden crates (Jequitiba ) holding 200 - 300 kgs of sugar on board of transatlantic vessels, and these crates were mostly made of jequitiba wood, as this was cheap and readily available in large logs and wide boards from huge trees. The common name sugar crate mahogany refers to this use. When the crates were emptied, the durable and exotic wood was recycled for furniture after staining; even Rembrandt painted verifiable on boards of jequitiba. Often holes caused by large nails during primary use can be found on such furniture built from this reutilized wood. This wood comes from a Biedermeier tabletop and has already made a journey across the Atlantic as a sugar crate 200 years before. One side still has old french polish!
