Chow Bella Pet Bowls

Chow Bella - Personalised Handmade Dog & Cat Bowls.

My philosopy at Chow Bella is that dog and cat bowls don't have to be beige ceramic or utilitarian plastic. I produce a range of stunning yet functional pet bowls in a contemporary colour range, personalised exactly to your needs and sure to be a talking point with visitors to your home.

Every single bowl is lovingly hand crafted on a traditional potter's wheel, and I guarantee you that you won't find anything else like it on the market.

Catering for all type of dog, my speciality is spaniel bowls which are shaped to keep long ears safely out of the way.



About Chow Bella
Chow Bella began 10 years ago, when Claire Pearson, who was in between ceramics studios (then working full time in publishing and making art ceramics in her spare time), was fed up of her Cocker Spaniel Bella's ears always being wet or crusty from draping in her food bowl. So she decided to make her a bespoke bowl.

A week or so later, feeling quite chuffed with the clean ear scenario at home, she mentioned this on a cocker spaniel forum, and the rest, as they say, is history! Chow Bella has grown in a truly organic way, and 3 years ago, Claire was able to quit her other jobs and go full time with the bowls. Ten years on, spaniel bowls are still our number one best seller.



Bespoke bowls
Need a teeny bowl for a Teacup Chihuaha? A bowl for your rabbit or guinea pig? Just ask! Because I make everything to hand rather than using pre-bought bisqueware, I can accommodate a wide range of requests. Recent commissions undertaken include a bowl with a coat of arms transfer for REME dogs, a raised bowl for a Cavalier with a neck problem, and a ferret bowl.

How it works
Each and every bowl at Chow Bella is hand made to order (unless it's a ready made spaniel bowl which are held in stock).

When you place your order, you will be added to the waiting list (I generally have around 60 orders on the list but at Christmas this goes up to 200!). There's only me working here which is why I can't always speed up the waiting time.

Usually around 2 weeks after receiving your order, I'll physically throw it on the wheel. It's then left overnight, and the next day has your wording stamped permanently into the clay.



It's left for a couple of days after this to dry out to the "leather hard" stage, at which stage the bottom is "turned".

The next stage is drying out. The clay needs to be absolutely bone dry before it can be fired, otherwise steam generated as it heats up in the kiln can cause it to blow up. Drying can take up to ten days in the cooler months.

Once dry, it is bisque fired (first firing), and I can then start on the next part of filling in the letters and painting your choice of colour onto the bowl.

Finally, it's dunked in a big bucket of glaze and has it's final (glaze) firing. It's then ready to be packed up and sent to the customer - normally around 4 weeks after ordering.