Coca Box (Coquera)
- unknown artist
Unknown artist, Coca Box (Coquera), 1700s. Wood; 11 × 7⅞ in. Funds from Carl Patterson in honor of Richard A. Haynes, 2017.417A-B.
Carved hardwood coca-leaf caddies or coqueras were produced in the various Jesuit missions that were scattered among the eastern Andean foothills in Alto Peru (now Bolivia). Coqueras were typically used to store coca leaves or yerba mate, both were consumed as herbal infusions for dealing with high altitude in colonial times. This beautiful example is spherical container with a lid, dated circa 1760s-70s, is exquisitely decorated with carved leaves, flowers, feathers and rocaille organized in horizontal bands.
Founded in 1691, San Javier was the first mission settled in the Chiquitos region of Bolivia and became an important manufacturing center for carved wooden objects. The fine pieces created by the indigenous Guaraní craftsmen were traded as luxury goods through the complex trade routes that linked the lowlands with the Altiplano and the rest of the Andean region.
– Jorge F. Rivas Pérez, Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art, 2017