Elephant with riders and attendants

In the 1400s and 1500s ceramic workshops near Sawankhalok and Sukhothai in north central Thailand produced wares that were exported by the thousands all over Indonesia and the Philippines. The industry of making and transporting ceramics must have been a very important source of income for Siam. In addition to useful dishes and vessels, the workshops produced decorative architectural fixtures and figurines of various sorts. These were usually for local use but sometimes also were exported. A number of stoneware elephants rather similar to this one are known, some found as far away as Borneo.

The purpose of these sculptures of elephants is unknown. The elephant figure often carries a jar on a small platform lashed to its back and has several riders and attendants. Possibly the jar was understood to contain a relic or holy water for rituals. This elephant, like many of the type, has suffered extensive damage and has been extensively restored. The restorations seem to be true to the original appearance of the piece. Thermoluminescence testing of a sample taken from the elephant's right shoulder yielded an approximate date range of 1395 to 1645.