Bar Strainer

In the Alessi catalogue since 1979, this strainer belongs to a set of professional bar tools designed by Ettore Sottsass with Alberto Gozzi — a nostalgic look back, by Alessi's own account, at the era of the classic hand-mixed cocktail.

It's a simple instrument: a spring-mounted mesh disc with two resting arms that balance it across a glass or shaker rim, built to hold back seeds, ice, and pulp while pouring a clean drink. Sottsass, one of the defining figures of 20th-century Italian design, brought the same attention to proportion and restraint here that runs through his furniture and architecture work.