Featured Coquilla Nut Pot, please help

Hi everyone,
I have bought the below as coquilla nut carving, but I have a feeling this is wood.
I like the carving, but I am new to ornaments and would like to know what exactly this ornament is made of.
What was it used for?
How old is it?
Where was it made?
If you have a link to educate me, I would very much appreciate it.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

How large is it, Simona?

 

Well, here are a few to peruse.....should keep you a little busy

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Coquilla+nut+carvings&tbm=isch&source=univ&fir=NedMdY_x1DQjVM%2CD4NIeYuXCBjFdM%2C_%3BDSFLxsPd_nh6QM%2C1SouzFYmRe3pLM%2C_%3BZqMyX_iC55ZK6M%2C1SouzFYmRe3pLM%2C_%3BTLRHOGP3WhEzaM%2CN5QsTarSm04rRM%2C_%3BJN5kywQqQpIHrM%2CqN3agkmbrueUIM%2C_%3B9CFcKUBQt4de3M%2CN5QsTarSm04rRM%2C_%3B2m9ikEoKetmJLM%2C3rtH3r_BH7U4EM%2C_%3B2gIPAoWZ9mSn_M%2CFmH6OFGN1F5oiM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kSogXrVpqHnS3EEM-NlLqqOt83YjQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiDhPWHg8n-AhXlkYkEHY1SB9MQ7Al6BAgTECg&biw=1081&bih=559&dpr=1.5

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It’s about 11 centimetres or 4 inch.

 

Brilliant! Have been reading all morning, thank you.
It’s just amazing how many uses the carvers could find for this nut, spice pot, flea trap, flasks to name just a few. Personally, I love the look of them, the carvings are amazing.
Xx
https://janeaustensworld.com/2012/04/16/the-coquilla-nut-a-handy-19th-century-ornamental-material/

 

Definitely coquilla nut, and looks like a pounce pot.

 

An interesting article on the coquilla nut trade, with special reference to its use in making nutmeg graters:

https://nutmeggraters.com/coquillaNutNutmegGrater.html

 

I did wonder nutmegs, and it may still smell of them.

 

It doesn't have a grater.

 

Sometimes carried as a little separate silver one. This may have been to hold the nutmegs themselves.

 

The opening seems a bit small for a whole nutmeg.
I still think a pounce pot is more likely.

 

It does have some holes on the lid, but just in the top bit, I have just checked, maybe this helps to pinpoint the artefact.
Also, I can’t smell anything coming form the inside of the pot, my nose is blocked lol.
Thank you again, this should keep me occupied reading for at least one week.
Xx

 

I agree Any Jewelry, I've just bought 4 coquilla nut items, 1 very like this and my research says pounce pot - it smells vaguely perfumey - so if pounce was scented . . . , the other's are egg shaped of varying sizes but too big to be for thimbles, and holes on both ends so pot pourri was the other suggestion for them and one does have a hanging point at the top. One has the date 1913 inside. I have another one too that is the perfect size for a thimble. Look forward to reading the articles too.

 

In France we call the material Corozo, it is a tropical nut.
Nice piece!

 

Pounce was sometimes made of sandarac, which is a cypress resin from Morocco. It smells a bit like incense, but the smell is very faint, so vaguely perfumey could be sandarac.
Nice to have an item like this on your desk, next to a feather quill pen.

 

This was most likely offered as a small caster/muffineer ('muffineer' as a name for large sugar shakers, seems to have been American, can't recall seeing it in ads and catalogs before the late 19th century), used for shaking out pepper, salt, or some type of spice. Despite endless incorrect online sales descriptions for various single shakers as pounce pots, actual pounce pots and sand boxes/sanders were a different form, and whether metal, ceramic or wood, they would typically have a concave lid, usually rather wide, that enabled remnants of the pounce or sand to be easily returned to the container after being used for preparing the writing surface or blotting the ink. Don't believe I've ever run across a vegetable ivory pounce pot/sander, though they're common in turned wood...

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...YE_DooQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1536&bih=707&dpr=1.25

~Cheryl