Kendi were widely used in Asia for drinking water for ceremonial use or taking medicine. From the 1660s, kendi were made in Japan for export mainly to Asia as they were not used in the domestic market. Many have been found in Indonesia and Thailand, but some were also exported to the Netherlands by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In the Netherlands, kendi were more for the interior decoration, sometimes as flowerpots. For more about kendi, see Christiaan J.A. Jorg, Fine and Curious, Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (Amsterdam, 2003), p.63.

For similar examples, see:
Christiaan J.A. Jorg, Fine and Curious, Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (Amsterdam, 2003), p.64, no.48. (Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden)
Oliver Impey, Japanese Export Porcelain – Catalogue of The Collection of The Ashmolean Museum Oxford, (Amsterdam, 2002), p. 183, no. 288. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
Suzuta Yukio, Imari Seiji [Imari Celadon], Ko-Imari seriese II, (Osaka, 1991), p.122.