W220xH360mm, China
This is a rice container for the southern part of China. In a traditional Chinese family very often the clan would be living within one house / estate, all meals would be eaten together, rice would be cooked in a wok in a kitchen far away, the cooked rice would be transported and served in a lacquered pail. This pail is has a gold painted decoration over the lacquered.
Side tracking; the Chinese would insult a stupid person as a “rice barrel”, someone who is “a gold painted lacquered rice barrel” would transfer to someone who is well package but in fact an idiot (the precise word has escape me, please help to suggest the word). This is very nice item, I hope the story wont stop you from taking it home. :)
Mountain Folkcraft 