This is a ceramic covered jar in the shape of bird from Sawankhalok in North-central Thailand, one of the largest ceramic-producing centers in Southeast Asia during the 14th century. It features painted designs of a bird on the body in underglaze iron-black. Thai wares such as this box have been found widely distributed from the Philippines, Java and Sulawesi, to Japan. In Southeast Asia, they were often used as ‘pusaka’ or heirlooms, while in Japan, Thai ceramics were used in the tea ceremony tradition.
