Flat pitcher vase

Southeast Asian Collection

Accession Nr.: 4889
Type: pottery
Date of production:
14 – mid-16th century
Place of production:
Materials/Techniques: earthenware, celadon glazed
Dimensions: height: 5 cm
diameter: 6. 8 cm
Celadon glazed Sawankalok ware. A pale green glazed earthenware vessel, originally reddish in colour, with a small neck connected to its flattened, disc-like body by ribbon handles. The sides are decorated with lotus leaf motifs scratched under the glaze.
In the former town of Sawankhalok in Northern and central Thailand, the pottery industry developed enormously from the 14th to the mid-16th century.This was in part due to the sudden ban on the export of Chinese ceramics in 1371, during Ming dynasty rule. It was at this time that Vietnamese and Thai ceramics took the place of Chinese ceramics in Southeast Asian markets.
Typical pieces of the type are celadon glazed ceramics, learned from Chinese masters, but other types of glazes also existed. The pieces that can be found today were partly found on site, partly as cargo from sunken shipwrecks.