Coco de Mer or Sea Coconut crafted as storage container - Lodoicea maldivica - 14×25×28 cm

Ancient box made from a whole sea coconut, emptied and slightly carved in geometric patterns on the edges of the opening. The Sea Coconut is the largest seed in the world, it comes from a plant that lives only in two islands of the Seychelles archipelago: Curieuse and Praslin. For its rarity and curious erotic form it has been a collection object for several centuries, natural or worked as a box, basket, used as begging or ritual bowl especially in the Indian subcontinent. This box comes from Goa, former Portuguese colony in India, where in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the ‘coco de mer’ were expensive collectibles, imported from the Seycelles and Africa, and often processed as baskets or boxes. Good condition, object of about 80/100 years, natural patina.