AN ANGLO-INDIAN CARVED COCONUT SHELL WITH A HERALDIC... Lot 174

AN ANGLO-INDIAN CARVED COCONUT SHELL WITH A HERALDIC SHIELD AND STAMPED SHEFFIELD 1878 SILVER MOUNTS Sri Lanka and England, second half 19th century The dark brown coconut shell of ovoid, egg-like shape, pierced at the bottom, the exterior profusely carved in three main decorative registers, the widest band in the centre featuring an undetected noble heraldic shield surmounted by a festoon reading in Roman alphabet letters "III BE WA BY", the shield possibly divided per fess or impaled in an unusual format for marshalled marital coats of arms, presenting a tree stump with foliage at the top, and an urn with a laurel crown and further foliage at the bottom, underneath the blazon a large mythical kirtimukha face spraying sinuous vegetal scrolls, irradiating throughout the surface with intertwined lotus scrolls and lush rosette stems, with elegant curled leaves throughout, encased within two narrower bands with stylised heart-shaped palmette leaves and a continuous beaded band at the top and bottom, accompanied by British Sheffield silver mounts stamped 1878, made by the Shrewsbury Works, Shieffield-based silversmith Martin, Hall & Co., 25cm high.