Tortoise Showpiece Coconut Shell Craft

Brass broidered coconut shell craft of Kerala is the craft of making beautifully carved and brass broidered products like cups, flower vases, snuff boxes, nut bowls, powder boxes and spoons using coconut shells as practiced by the artisans of Kerala in India. This art requires great skill on the part of the artisan as the shell is extremely hard. The main centres of production in Kerala are located in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode Districts.[1] Though the coconut shell craft is also prevalent in Goa, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and West Bengal, the brass broidered variety is practiced only in Kerala.
In ancient times, crafting objects from the coconut shell was initially practiced by coconut farmers. They would scoop the copra and use the shell which was waste or by-products. It is known to be a craft, the shell is carved out and is experimented with by craftsmen in Kerala.
Coconut Shell Crafts of Kerala has been Conferred with the Geographical Indication (GI) Status by Government of India in 2008.