A beautiful coco de mer nut with a hinged compartment that opens as a box, all mounted with brass trim and supports, dating to the latter part of the 19th century.

The coco de mer nut (scientific name: Lodoicea) is a very rare seed native to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, its suggestive form leading to all sorts of legendary fables. Many were collected by seafarers and gifted to royalty and noblemen who saw them symbols of fertility and embellished them with jewels and precious metals.

Until the source of the nut was discovered in 1768, it was believed to grow on a mythical tree at the bottom of the sea because it was once believed to be a sea-bean or drift seed, a seed evolved to be dispersed by the sea. However, it is now known that the viable nut is too dense to float, and only rotted out nuts can be found on the sea surface, thus explaining why the trees are limited in range to just two islands.

Condition: excellent

Dimensions: 32cm high, 27cm wide, 15cm deep