Avril's last batch • In 4 active carts right now • Only 187 left
Avril's Watermelon Fruit Bowl
Avril's Watermelon Fruit Bowl
Dispatched within 1–2 working days
90-day money-back guarantee
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Avril's Watermelon Fruit Bowl
Thrown & painted by hand in the Vale of Evesham · The last batch
The fruit bowl the grandchildren actually reach into.
187 bowls left · the shed closes 30 November“Six points, six forks, six grandchildren. Each one got a colour.”
For twenty years, Avril Pinnock cut up fruit for her six grandchildren and watched it go soft in a plastic tub at the back of the fridge. After her husband Royston, who grew watermelons in his glasshouse near Pershore for 46 summers, passed away, she threw a little bowl on her wheel and painted it like one of his melons, with six coloured forks tucked into the zigzag rim. On Christmas Day 2024 the grandchildren emptied it before the turkey was out of the oven.
Now, at 73, the arthritis in her hands has reached the one that holds the brush. This autumn’s firing is her last. What’s left of it is all there will be.
From The Craftsman’s Review
What arrives at your door
- One hand-thrown, hand-painted ceramic watermelon bowl in the melon you choose: Crimson Red or Golden Yellow
- Six stainless steel fruit picks with coloured ball handles (lilac, sky blue, lemon, orange, cherry and pink), already set in the six points of the rim
- Wrapped by hand in paper and packed in a sturdy box
- Avril’s 90-day money-back guarantee
The fruit is not included. Avril says the grandchildren ate it.
Two kinds of melon
Crimson Red
Painted like the little red melons Royston grew in his glasshouse every summer. Lime-green striped rind, a thin white band at the edge and a red inside with little black seeds.
Golden Yellow
For “the secret row,” the yellow-fleshed melons Royston grew only for the grandchildren. Same green rind and white band, with a sunny yellow inside and black seeds.
Every stripe is painted freehand, so no two bowls are exactly alike. The stripes land a little differently on each one, and the seeds are never in the same places twice.
Why it works better than a plastic tub
Fruit where people see it
It belongs on the worktop or the table, not behind the pickle jar. What people can see is what gets eaten.
The forks come with it
Six stainless picks live in the rim. Pull one, eat, slide it back. No drawer, no sticky fingers.
Everybody has a colour
Children claim their colour and keep it. At parties, everyone keeps their own pick, so nobody double-dips.
Looks like a melon
Nobody ever walked past a watermelon. The bowl looks like something you want to reach into.
Real ceramic, fired twice
Thrown on the wheel, painted, glazed and fired again. Solid enough that it doesn’t tip when a pick is pulled.
Snack size, on purpose
One good serving at a time, eaten fresh. Then you fill it again instead of a big bowl going brown.
How to use it
- Fill it. Cut fruit into bite-size pieces: grapes, apple, satsumas, pear, berries, whatever is in season.
- Put it out. On the kitchen worktop after school, on the table at teatime, on the coffee table on quiz night.
- Pull a fork. Everybody takes a ball, spears a piece and keeps their pick until the bowl is empty.
- Rinse and refill. Rinse the bowl and the picks, slide the picks back into the points, and it’s ready for tomorrow.
Grown-ups use it, too: cheese and pineapple for guests, olives at a buffet, or a little bowl of berries next to the reading chair.
A plastic tub vs. Avril’s bowl
| Plastic tub in the fridge | Avril’s watermelon bowl | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Behind the leftovers | On the worktop, in plain sight |
| Forks | Somewhere in a drawer | Six, stored in the rim |
| Who eats from it | Whoever remembers it’s there | Everybody with a colour |
| At a party | Fingers and cocktail sticks | One pick per guest |
| Made | By a machine, by the million | By hand, 187 left |
Made by hand in the Vale of Evesham
Avril married Royston Pinnock in 1972. Six years later they took over a market garden outside Pershore in the Vale of Evesham, and Royston planted watermelons in the glasshouse at the end, which everyone said would never grow in Worcestershire. Every summer for 46 years they did, and one row was always yellow and kept for the grandchildren.
Avril has thrown pots for more than twenty years, on a second-hand wheel Royston gave her for their thirtieth anniversary. After he passed in 2024, she moved the wheel and her little kiln into his empty packing shed. That December she made the first watermelon bowl, cutting the zigzag rim with his old kitchen knife.
Every bowl since has been thrown, cut, pierced, painted and fired by her. Her granddaughter Lottie runs the little online shop from her kitchen table in Worcester and takes the parcels to the post office.
Now the arthritis in her painting hand won’t allow another firing. On 30 November, Avril closes the shed. What came out of the last firing is all there is.
Avril Pinnock
Pershore, Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire
What a school dinner lady says
“I ran a primary school kitchen for 26 years. Fruit pots on a tray went in the bin. Fruit in a bowl on the side, cut up and easy to grab, disappeared. Kids eat what they can see and reach, and they love anything that’s theirs. A fork in their own colour is exactly that.”
Maureen Tolley, retired school cook, Evesham
Perfect for
Questions people asked at the festival
How big is it?
About 17.5 centimetres across and 9.5 centimetres tall. It’s a snack bowl, not a salad bowl: a good bunch of grapes, or an apple and a couple of satsumas cut up.
Are the picks safe for kids?
They’re small stainless steel forks with two pointed tines, so they’re made for older children and grown-ups. Avril wouldn’t give one to a toddler, and neither should you.
Do the picks fall out?
No. Each pick slides snugly into its own hole in a point of the rim, so they stay put when the bowl is carried. Pull gently and they come right out.
Is every bowl the same?
The shape is the same. The stripes and seeds are painted by hand, so each one is a little different.
Will there be more?
No. This autumn’s firing was the last big one. When these 187 are gone, there won’t be another batch.
Avril’s promise
“If the kids won’t touch it, send it back. I’d rather it sat in the kitchen of somebody who’ll use it.”
Every order comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked. Every bowl is wrapped by hand and dispatched within 1 to 2 working days.
Care & use
Rinse the bowl and the picks under warm water with a little dish soap and let them dry. Treat it like any good ceramic dish: a hard knock on stone or tile can chip it. Small differences in the painting and the glaze are part of hand-made work, not a flaw.
Product details
| Size | approx. 17.5 cm across × 9.5 cm tall (6.9 × 3.7 in) |
| Picks | 6 stainless steel picks, approx. 8.7 cm, coloured ball handles |
| Material | Glazed ceramic, fired twice |
| Melons | Crimson Red · Golden Yellow |
| Made | Thrown and painted by hand, Pershore, Worcestershire |
| Shipping | Dispatched within 1–2 working days |
| Guarantee | 90-day money-back guarantee |
The Last Batch
The Last Batch
A message from Avril:
For 46 summers my husband Royston grew watermelons in his glasshouse outside Pershore, and for twenty of them I put cut-up fruit in the fridge for our grandchildren and watched it go soft. The first watermelon bowl I made for them, on Christmas Day 2024, was empty before the turkey came out of the oven. Every bowl since has been thrown on my wheel, cut, painted and fired twice in Royston’s old packing shed with my own two hands. Those hands are 73 now, the arthritis has reached the one that holds the brush, and this autumn’s firing is my last. These 187 bowls are what’s left.
On 30 November 2026 I close the shed. After that, Lottie posts the rest until the very last bowl is gone.
When they’re gone, they’re gone.
Free Delivery
Free Delivery
Free delivery across the UK
- Dispatched within 1–2 working days (Royal Mail)
- Insured: every parcel is fully insured
- Wrapped by hand in paper, with the six picks in place, so the ceramic arrives safely
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here's how to reach us.
Got a question? Here's how to reach us.
Lottie personally replies to every single email – as fast as she possibly can. Whether you have a question about your order or just want to say hello to Avril, we're here.
You can reach us:
- Mon – Fri: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (GMT)
- Saturday: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (GMT)
Email: info@cedarandtinco.com
Can I return my order if I don't like it?
Can I return my order if I don't like it?
Of course. We stand behind everything in our shop 100%. If the watermelon bowl doesn't win you over, just drop us an email within 90 days and we'll make it right – no hassle, no headaches.
How is it made?
How is it made?
Avril throws every bowl on her wheel, cuts the zigzag rim by hand while the clay is leather-hard, pierces the six points for the picks, paints the rind stripes freehand and fires each bowl twice. Two melons: Crimson Red and Golden Yellow. This is her final batch.