Chinese kruik - Jug - Earthenware

I managed to snap up the ceramic jar during a clearance sale of an IT company's contents. The CEO was a person who traveled regularly to China and, during one of these trips, bought the jar and had it shipped. The jar has a seal and some Chinese characters affixed to it.

I had this jar appraised by an expert on the TV program "Richer Than You Think" and, according to the expert, this jar could possibly have been used for transporting gin by truck or ship. The ropes served as shock absorbers during transport.