The vessel that decides what the evening is going to be. Ice for the drinks, or a fistful of ranunculus, or a candle burning low behind cut glass.

Faceted glass in hazel, a smoky amber that reads brown in shadow and honey when the light finds it, with a thick cut base that holds the color at its deepest. Five and a half inches across, wide enough to matter on a bar cart and small enough to move to the table. One piece, three jobs.

For the couple who entertain more than they planned to, the housewarming that deserves better than a bottle, the friend whose bar cart is one object away from finished.