This unusual, octagonal vessel is elaborately decorated with putty (thayo) and gilded lacquer. The design include bands of scrolling vegetation with inlaid glass decoration on the cover, base and foot. The cover is topped with an equally ornate tierred finial. The high relief work is unusual and suggests it could have been a special commission.Containers such as this functioned as food vessels for the donation of food to the monks. The trays could be used as dishes and the cover as a drinking cup. The base would have held rice, fruit and eggs while the smaller trays would have held curry, condiments, betel and cheroots for smoking.
