Coco de Mer (SOLD)
Seychelles, Indian Ocean
Circa 1900
This coco de mer was fashioned into a container with two compartments and a carrying handle and is decorated with a frieze of cross hatching.
length 32 cm (12.5 in)
The coco de mer is the only member of the genus Lodoicea and is unique to only two islands of the Seychelles; Praslin and Curieuse having become extinct on St. Pierre, Chauve-Souris and Ile Ronde. The palm grows to a height of almost 35 metres and produces the largest seed in the world.
The name Maldivica was given because the nuts, carried west by the currents from the uninhabited Seychelles, would be found on the beaches of the Maldives from where they were traded. They become highly prized in Renaissance Europe where they were often elaborately carved or mounted with precious gems, a valuable addition to the Kunstkammer or private collections. This exotic nut has had many names through the centuries; one, Callipyge, came from the Greek meaning 'beautiful rump' after sailors saw in it the disembodied buttocks of a woman and until its source was discovered in 1768 it was believed to grow on a mythical tree at the bottom of the sea.