New Moss Scuttle & Ayars Bowl

This morning was my first shave with my new Moss Scuttle (small) and Ayars lather bowl in slate; both made by Sara Bonnyman in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with both.

The Ayars lather bowl (mine has a handle in case you've seen the pictures on her website) effortlessly helped make a very rich lather (TOBS Sandalwood soap) in no time. The ridges at the bottom of the bowl add just enough resistance.

I transferred my lather and brush to the scuttle which had been prepped and warmed according to the instructions and I was treated to luxurious warm lather (which didn't break down at all) for my three pass shave with lots of very warm lather left over.

While a scuttle certainly isn't necessary for a good shave, neither are many of the little touches or luxuries we enjoy for our morning shaves. With only one shave in I can easily see that both of these fantastic pieces will be staying out on the vanity and used daily.

Thanks for the nice review.. i'm currently considering a scuttle, so a few questions

Why do you need the Aayrs bowl.. can't you make the lather in just the Moss scuttle? I'd be using cream. If both are needed it raises the minimum price considerably.
What persuaded you to Sara rather than Georgetown Pottery?

I have a Moss scuttle from the Sue Moore auction and agree with the OP, impressive.

Dinola, I believe the Moss scuttle in the small size is designed as just a brush scuttle - I.e warming your loaded brush in between passes for a face latherer. You could probably use it to build a lather, but would have to use a smaller type brush. The Moss scuttles also come in a larger size which can support lathering with larger brushes.

Mike, how did you get an Ayars bowl with a handle? I used to have one without a handle and have never seen that option.

Those are both very nice looking!

Nice. Be very careful. I recently broke a lathering bowl I bought from an Etsy seller. Slipped out of my hand while shaking off water. LOL not doing that anymore. Not very expensive though and Gorilla glued back together. Ugly now. Sigh. Smooth shaves to you.


Mike

Those are beautiful items. Congratulations.

Sara does beautiful work.

I went with the Sara Bonnyman’s work over Georgetown for a couple of reasons. I prefer some of the solid colour glazes that Sara is able to achieve; they, along with the overall shape was slightly more aesthetically pleasing to me – I’m sure that the Georgetown scuttles work well, but they have a slight “Pottery Barn” or “Ethan Allen” look (somewhat too smooth) that I wasn’t looking for in a scuttle. Also, from what I have read and observed from the photos and videos the narrower and deeper brush bowl in the Moss Scuttle preserves more heat, which is the maingoal of the scuttle.

As for lathering in the scuttle versus a bowl this is simply my opinion: I didn’t want to lather in the scuttle because the scuttle itself is a rather bulky and heavy piece of pottery; I like to be able to hold it in my hand at about a 45/60 degreeangle. In addition, it’s necessary to fill the scuttle reservoir and brush bowl with hot water in order to get sufficient heat transferred to the pottery – my routine includes soaking my brush and warming my lather bowl while I’m in the shower. If I were to use the scuttle to build my lather I would need either to empty the scuttle so that I could have it at an angle while building the lather, or I would need to rest it on the counter filled with water – and with my unrefined technique I’d probably slosh water all over the place. This means that for me a separate lather bowl is needed. As I’m only looking for a place for the lather the brush to rest and remain warm the small scuttle is perfect; I think the small would work very well for any brush up to 24mm. I do know that others lather in the large scuttle, especially with larger brushes, but again, that would prove challenging if it were full of water.

I wanted alather bowl with a handle because I find it’s more secure to hold – reference mglindo’sproblem of breakage. My favourite lather bowl up till this point was an oldlatte mug as it has a handle and it’s broader and lower than a regular or apothecarymug – less clanging on the sides with the brush. Sara is great to deal with. Iemailed her about what I was looking for in terms of a lather bowl to go withthe scuttle. She makes the Ayars bowl which was the right shape for what Iwanted, but without a handle. She also makes a lather bowl, which has a handleand is a little narrower, but deeper than the Ayars bowl. When I described whatI wanted she was more than willing to do a custom piece. I couldn’t have beenmore impressed when they arrived.

If price isa consideration I’d recommend going with just the scuttle and finding somethinginexpensive for lathering – just find the shape that works best for your styleof lathing. I could definitely have kept using my Ikea latte mug indefinitely,but the scuttle is a game changer for the morning routine.

I own one of Saras' Ayers bowls and I can attest to both the quality of her work and the beauty of the bowl.

Those are beautiful bowls. That's one of the fun things about wet shaving, is the abundance of products that make this not only a manly art, but a wonderful and fascinating hobby as well.

Sharp looking set, thanks for the review!

Sara's work is really nice. She and Dirtybird make the best scuttles. I agree Georgetown is too Pottery Barn