Bugbear box
Mexico or Spain?
Coconut
5.5 by 6 inches and 6 inches high on base (14 by 15.2 and 15.2 cm)
Late 19th century

A carved coconut bugbear in the form of a box with an unhinged lid with a carved image of a bird on a branch. Carved around the lid are the words REQUERDOS and DE AMOR, which translates as "memories of love" in Spanish. There is a carved eagle surrounded by two birds on one side, and a triangle containing an island sunrise on the other. Ex private collection, Northern CA.

Coconut shell “bugbears”, sometimes in the form of powder flasks or tea caddies, were said to be carved by sailors during long voyages originating in England, Portugal, France and Spain.
#2615

$1100