POLISHED COCO DE MER SEED (Lodoicea maldivica), of typical form, 24cms high Provenance: private collection, consigned via our Carmarthen office Auctioneers note: The coco de mer is a palm found only in the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. The fruit requires around seven years to mature and a further two years to germinate. Originally believed to have been a sea-bean or drift seed (a seed designed to be dispersed by the sea) it is now known that the nut is too heavy to float, and that only rotten nuts can be found on the sea surface: this explains why the trees are limited in range to just two islands. Until the true source of the nut was discovered in 1768, many believed that it grew on a mythical tree at the bottom of the sea. In the 16th century, the European aristocracy decorated their coco de mer seeds with precious jewels, and treasured them in "cabinets of curiosities". The sailors who first saw the nut floating in the sea imagined that they resembled a woman's buttocks, leading to the plant's archaic botanical name, "Lodoicea callipyge"; "callipyge" meaning "beautiful rump" in Greek. Condition Report: cut and shut.The Coco de mer has been cut, contents removed and resealed. There is a clear cut line right around the shell.There is also one large blemish near the top.
POLISHED COCO DE MER SEED (Lodoicea maldivica), of typical form, 24cms high Provenance: private collection, consigned via our Carmarthen office Auctioneers note: The coco de mer is a palm found only in the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. The fruit requires around seven years to mature and a further two years to germinate. Originally believed to have been a sea-bean or drift seed (a seed designed to be dispersed by the sea) it is now known that the nut is too heavy to float, and that only rotten nuts can be found on the sea surface: this explains why the trees are limited in range to just two islands. Until the true source of the nut was discovered in 1768, many believed that it grew on a mythical tree at the bottom of the sea. In the 16th century, the European aristocracy decorated their coco de mer seeds with precious jewels, and treasured them in "cabinets of curiosities". The sailors who first saw the nut floating in the sea imagined that they resembled a woman's buttocks, leading to the plant's archaic botanical name, "Lodoicea callipyge"; "callipyge" meaning "beautiful rump" in Greek. Condition Report: cut and shut.The Coco de mer has been cut, contents removed and resealed. There is a clear cut line right around the shell.There is also one large blemish near the top.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
