The Balter is a 5-inch ceramic plant pot with a matching saucer, the larger of two sizes, named after a word that means to dance clumsily, without skill, but with great enthusiasm.

Glazed ceramic wipes clean and holds moisture more evenly than raw terracotta. The centre drainage hole keeps water moving instead of pooling at the roots, and the matching saucer keeps the shelf beneath dry. At five inches it suits a settled shelf plant: a pothos, a peperomia, a fern that has decided to stay. The 3.5-inch Balter is there for smaller plants. The five-inch is the size where the form has room to look like it means it, which is the most a shelf pot can offer and, on a good day, a fair description of the person who chose it.

The smaller Balter holds its end of a windowsill. The five-inch commits to the whole shelf, which is baltering at the scale it was always meant for.