Ceramic Shaving Bowl

We went to the UK's best ceramic shaving bowl maker, Ross Giles and tasked him with creating a piece of shaving hardware beauty. Our brief was to achieve subtle layers of colour that had to include charcoal black, grey-indigo and an earthy bronze - no mean feat in the context of kilns and ceramic chemistry.

Ross however is an absolute wizard at his craft and has nailed our requirements. He produces each tiny batch using the following process:

1. The bowls are hand thrown and left overnight, sometimes marginally longer and in order to dry to a "leather hard" finish
2. Foot rings are added and internal grooves trimmed
3. Handles are extruded, cut to length, dried to match the hardness of the bowl, then attached
4. The bowls must be dried evenly to avoid warps, cracks and deformations. This is at the absolute minimum, a week. More in the winter, apparently
5. Bowls are loaded into his kiln and fired for around 18 hours to 1000 degrees before being left to cool naturally to room temperature - This takes 4-5 days
6. Bowls are finally dipped in glazes then reloaded into the kiln and fired for another 18 hours to 1220 degrees and again left to cool naturally for 4-5 days.

Hand stamped with the Phoenix and Beau logo, each bowl comes with its own idiosyncrasies in terms of colour pattern, shade and marking. Each one is a thing of British craftsmanship, a thing of shaving beauty, and a genuine one off.

They're made so well that, if cared for properly, we have no doubt they'll last a life time.

Dimensions:

• Diameter - 150mm
• Depth - 65mm

Hand made by Ross Giles in Cardiff, Wales.