I have to credit my colleague and friend Richard Aldridge for the imaginative way this Abelam coconut shell lime bottle was mounted. It is commonplace to mount the lime bottle at the bottom with the stick coming out the top—but the ancestral face on this coconut shell lends itself to this unorthodox orientation. The undulating and notched lime stick serves as an elongated support to the smiling ancestral face with arched eyebrows. The piece is obviously old as evidenced by the aged glossy patina on the coconut and stick. As mounted, the piece stands 10" in height, dates to the early 20th century. sold