Chow Bella

Hand-Thrown Ceramic Dog Bowls From a Hampshire Potter. Spaniel Bowls a Speciality.

Right. So Chow Bella is the work of Claire — a Hampshire-based ceramicist operating from a small studio in Lindford near Bordon, who hand-throws every dog and cat bowl that leaves the place on a traditional potter's wheel, and works on the rather lovely founding principle that pet bowls "do not have to be beige ceramic or utilitarian plastic" (her line, and one which, having looked at the available alternatives in most pet shops, one can rather sympathise with). The studio's work has built a properly devoted following: 5 stars from over 1,700 customers on Trustpilot, 5 stars from over 150 customers on Sostter, and a particularly strong line in returning custom — including, judging by the reviews, several owners ordering replacement bowls eight years after the original, and at least one customer who ordered a King Charles Spaniel bowl that turned out to be exactly the right size for a ferret.

The genuine cleverness of the work — and the bit that sets Chow Bella apart from approximately every other dog-bowl on the market — is the breed-specific bowl shapes. The signature Spaniel Bowl has a tall, narrow neck designed to keep long ears out of the food and water (or, in the customer parlance that recurs across the reviews, "no more soggy ears"); the King Charles Spaniel, Springer and Cocker variants apply similar principles in different proportions; and beyond the breed-specific range there are standard dog and cat bowls, treat jars, slow-feeders, water bowls, and — handled with proper sensitivity — bespoke memorial pieces for the departed, customer reviews of which are among the more genuinely moving things one tends to encounter on a Trustpilot page. Every piece is made to order in a contemporary colour palette, personalised with the dog's name, arrives after a few weeks with regular progress photos and updates from Claire along the way, and is, by any reasonable measure, properly worth the wait. Free UK delivery throughout. Discover more independent British makers in our British Makers selection, find considered presents in our Gifts for Her and Gifts for Him edits, and discover values-led picks via Shop by Purpose.