This tea bowl is made of burlwood, found in the excrescences growing on the sides of trees. This type of wood was used to make tea bowls in Tibet, Ladakh and Bhutan because it was strong and resisted splitting when full of hot liquid. This example evidently belonged to a fairly wealthy owner, who could afford to have the inside lined with silver and decorated with an embossed central motif. Tea bowls also doubled as food bowls and the staple diet of Tibet, roasted barley flour or tsampa, was mixed with tea and rolled by hand into small balls inside such bowls.