Acco Stoneware Christmas Bowl 12cm - Brown

This is a small stoneware bowl, 12cm across and 4.5cm tall, holding 145ml. Its rim rises and dips in a gentle wave instead of running in a perfect circle, and the inside carries a radiating motif that spreads out from a small centre, rather like a frost pattern. The reactive glaze settles in a rich brown that gathers deeper in the lines of the pattern and lightens towards the foot on the outside. At 0.18KG it sits lightly in the hand, and stoneware is dense and hard-wearing, which suits a bowl meant to be used often.

With 145ml to fill, this is a bowl for small things rather than a full serving: a dip or a sauce beside the main dish, cranberry sauce on the Christmas table, salted nuts with drinks, olives, or a few sweets passed round after dinner. Put one within easy reach of each guest and nobody has to stretch across the table. Outside the festive season it earns its place just as well, as a salt pot by the hob, a dish for butter or a little pudding portion at the end of a meal. It suits a kitchen dresser or open shelf too, where the inside motif is on show between uses.

The bowl is stoneware throughout, finished in a reactive glaze. A reactive glaze moves and pools as it fires, so no two pieces leave the kiln quite alike, and yours will have its own variation in tone and in how the pattern shows. It goes in the dishwasher, the microwave and the oven, so you can warm a sauce in it, bake a small portion, or simply load it with the plates afterwards. We like one at each place on a linen runner, or several gathered in the middle among pine sprigs and candles, where the glossy glaze catches the light.

How big is the bowl?

It is 12cm across and 4.5cm tall and holds 145ml, so it is a small bowl for dips, sauces, nuts and sweets rather than soup or cereal.

Can it go in the dishwasher and the microwave?

Yes. It goes in both the dishwasher and the microwave, so you can warm a sauce in it and wash it afterwards with the rest of your tableware.

Can I use it in the oven?

Yes, the bowl can go in the oven, which makes it handy for warming a dip or baking a small individual portion to bring straight to the table.

What is it made of?

It is made of stoneware throughout, finished in a reactive glaze, and weighs 0.18KG, so it is light enough to pass round the table easily.

Is every bowl exactly the same?

Not quite. A reactive glaze moves as it fires, so the tone of the brown and the way the motif shows vary a little from one bowl to the next.

Is it only for Christmas?

Not at all. The radiating motif suits a winter table, but the bowl is just as useful all year round for salt, butter, olives or a small pudding.