Covered jar decorated with one 'thepanom', one 'norasingha', two cartouches, each separated by flame patterns

Bencharong ware is a polychrome porcelain made in the city of Jingdezhen (the porcelain capital of China) and richly decorated to Thai tastes with bright enamel glazes. It is thought that Buddhist books and paintings were supplied as references and sent to Guangzhou merchants, who acted as intermediaries to the Chinese potters and decorators for foreign orders. As with orders for Europe, the desired ceramic shapes were communicated by maquettes in wood or perhaps metal. While the name Bencharong derives from the sanskrit words ‘pancha’ and ‘ranga’ meaning five colours, Bencharong wares can also be found with as few as three and as many as eight colours.

Bencharong wares were first commissioned by the Thai kings of Ayutthaya in the 18th century. This period of relative peace saw rulers enjoy picnics and tours with Bencharong wares used to store and serve food. After the fall of Autthaya to the Burmese in 1767, Bencharong wares began to be used by the wider community and Lain Nam Thong wares superseded them as the exclusive wares of royalty.

This covered jar features images of 'thepanom' and 'norasingha', both minor Buddhist deities belonging to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Typically the 'thepanom' (celestial beings who live in one of the six lower Buddhist heavens) sit cross-legged in a praying posture wearing only a petalled collar, bracelets and a crown. The 'norasingha', believed to reside in the mythical Himaphan forest in the Himalayan mountains, usually has a human head, the hindquarters of a lion with a flame-tipped tail, and the hoofs of a deer.