This covered box is decorated with vegetal motifs, painted in with underglaze brown on a cream ground.The royal twin cities of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai in north-central Thailand were at the heart of one of the largest ceramic-producing centres in Southeast Asia during the 14th century. Si Satchanalai was later renamed Sawankhalok and the name became a convenient if somewhat inaccurate term to refer to ceramics that originated from either of these two areas.Thai wares such as these have been found widely distributed from the Philippines, Java and Sulawesi to Japan. In Java and Sulawesi, they were used for ritual purposes for example as burial objects or 'pusaka' (heirlooms) while in Japan, they were used in the tea ceremony tradition.
