Impudence to criticise a vessel (8)
I believe the answer is:
saucepan
'a vessel' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'impudence to criticise' is the wordplay.
'impudence' becomes 'sauce' (I've seen this in another clue).
'to criticise' becomes 'pan' (informal term meaning to criticise heavily).
'sauce'+'pan'='SAUCEPAN'
(Other definitions for saucepan that I've seen before include "Kitchen vessel" , "Kitchen utensil" , "kitchenware" , "Cooking pot" , "Cooking utensil" .)