Abstract: An embossed pottery bowl, and an apparatus and method for embossing a design on a pottery bowl. A press block and die block are each secured to output ends of a pair of actuator arms and positioned on opposite sides of a sidewall of the pottery bowl with a recessed die cavity of the die block facing in the direction of the press block. The press and die blocks are urged toward each other, preferably by a pneumatically controlled arm, so as to plastically displace a portion of the sidewall into the recessed die cavity. The plastic displacement producing an embossed portion of the sidewall having a recessed surface and an opposite bas-relieved surface, with at least one the recessed and bas-relieved surface molded into the shape of the design.