Treasure? (2)........

In the very back of the cupboard, I found this very old pot. I remember seeing it years ago but had forgotten it was there. It`s about 9 inches tall (22-23cm for those who don`t use `proper` measurements! It`s a kind of glazed earthenware as far as I can tell - glazed inside as well as out. It`s got a fancy kind of china - not fine china, lid which just lifts off and sits on a kind of ring of the pot.


All around the side is a deep band of pattern, almost hieroglyphics, looking as if it`s trying to replicate an Egyptian feel about it, - or at least, that`s how it seems to me.


I know it`s a family piece and not something we`ve bought. I think it comes from at least my grandparents era, on my Dad`s side of the family, who were fishermen. But - I`d love to know more about it. Was it perhaps used as a salt jar; or for salting and storing fish; was it for flour..... or what would be its purpose? And, what would be it`s age? And is it unusual, rare even?
Guess, I shall never know. But, it remains an interesting item.