Pair of Coco Fesse

Lot 241 - A botanical phenomenon, these nuts, carried by the ocean current along the Indian coast, were highly prized by princes and kings. Rodolphe II of Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, made an unsuccessful bid of 4,000 gold florins to obtain even one. The seed was officially presented to the French court during the reign of Louis XIV, and gained particular notoriety thanks to the Duc de Praslin. He had the audacity to present these "funny butts" to an aging sovereign, defying the influence of the false devotees who were unsuccessfully ridiculed by Molière.