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Mittio House
'U & Me' — a hand-built ceramic sculpture of two figures, closed-eyed, with the words U and ME incised across their chests
Exhibition Archive 2026 • Bhopal Studio

From earth, to expression.

Handmade ceramic works shaped by nature, memory, and the human hand. By Ranu Shrivastava — Bhopal, India.

1 of 1 Archival Pieces
1240°C High-Fire Stoneware
"U & ME" Featured Sculpture
Ranu Shrivastava sculpting a clay figure in her studio, the Clay Room, Bhopal
Ranu Shrivastava • Clay Room, Bhopal
Intersection of Space & Clay

"Every piece begins with a conversation between the hand and the earth."

Formally trained with a Diploma in Interior Design from Women's Polytechnic Bhopal (1998), followed by comprehensive ceramic mentorship at the National Museum of Mankind (IGRMS Bhopal), Ranu Shrivastava occupies a rare threshold in contemporary studio ceramics.

Her hand-sculpted pieces are not mere tabletop ornamentation; they are conceived as architectural interventions for living sanctuaries. The clay remembers the river currents of central Madhya Pradesh, translating tribal folkloric geometries and quiet meditative silhouettes into permanent fired stoneware.

Spatial Design Architectural Scale

Pieces calibrated to anchor natural illumination, quiet corners, and tactile transitions.

Material Lineage Central Indian Clay

Sourced river silt rich in natural oxides, fired with wood-ash and artisanal reduction washes.

Hand-built without mechanized wheels • Studio Signature
Visual Vocabulary

Look Closely

Four pieces from the studio floor, each showing a different hand-building or glazing approach at work.

Cream three-lobed ceramic tray with a brown textured exterior 01 // Form

Joined Vessels

Three basins pinched from a single slab and divided by soft internal walls, rimmed in white against a bark-textured exterior.

Two ceramic attendant figures in striped turbans, each holding a spiral-painted plate 02 // Figure

Figures in Clay

A pair of sculpted attendants in striped turbans, each cradling a spiral-painted plate — narrative form beyond the vessel.

Oval ceramic dish with dark rim and pooled multicoloured glaze drops 03 // Glaze

Glaze as Pigment

Molten glass-glaze pooled like paint along a scalloped dark rim — orange, yellow, red and grey on plain cream stoneware.

Small gilded ceramic courtyard diorama with a pillared walkway and white pebble border 04 // Scale

Architectural Miniature

A gilded courtyard scene built in miniature, complete with a pillared walkway and a beaded white border.

Exhibition Catalog • Vol. IV

The Studio Work

Bronze-Lined Face Pot

Round white pot with a face pressed into the clay — almond eyes, nose and lips traced in amber glaze, a matching amber band at the rim.

Sage-Blue Boat Vessel

An open, two-lobed vessel with a pinched pointed rim, its surface mottled in sage green, blue and tan.

Curled Bisque Leaf Dish

Unglazed white bisque, hand-curled into a leaf-like wave with a small coiled tendril at one edge — raw clay, no glaze.

Indigo Spiral Bowl

A cream, crackle-rimmed oval bowl with a deep indigo interior combed into a tight spiral.

Crackle-Glazed Bowl Pair

Two bowls from the same crackle-glaze family, ivory exteriors fissured in dark lines, blue-black pooled interiors.

Red Lattice Trio Plates

A set of three round speckled stoneware plates, each crossed by a curving band of hand-cut red perforations.

Reactive Glaze Low Bowl

A wide, low bowl glazed in a reactive blend of blue, violet and tan that pools unevenly across the surface.

Folded Square Dish

A pinch-formed square dish in soft cream glaze, its dark rim gathered at each corner with a pooled brown drip at centre.

Dimpled Olive Pot

A squat round pot in olive-toned glaze, its body stippled with a dense field of small circular impressions.

Cabochon Colour Panel

A wall panel of fused oval cells, each pooled with a different glaze — cobalt, amber, orange, cream, sky blue and chartreuse.

Tendril Leaf Dish

Another unglazed leaf-form dish, its curled body drawn out into a slender coiled tendril at one end.

Heart Face Plaque — Ivory

A heart-shaped wall plaque, an ivory-glazed face with closed eyes, a single red bindi and painted red lips, rimmed in dark brown.

Triangular Face Mask

An elongated face mask with a banded dark-brown headline, a red bindi, deep-set almond eyes, red lips and spiral-curled ear details.

Confetti Glaze Dish

A round cream dish rimmed in deep violet-blue, with a scatter of molten glaze drops in orange, yellow, red and grey pooled along one edge.

Olive Face Study

A small sculpted head with closed eyes and a serene expression, glazed in soft olive and cream with a textured hairline.

Lattice Rim Bowl — Teal

A round bowl with a ring of oval perforations cut around its sage-green rim, glazed teal-black within.

Turned Face Study

A second small bust from the same closed-eyed series, turned slightly to the side, glazed in warm cream and olive.

Pink Combed Leaf Tray

A long, leaf-shaped tray with a bronze rim, its interior combed in streaks of pink and white.

Rust Lattice Vessel

A tall, tapering vessel in rust-brown glaze, crossed by a diagonal band of cream lattice perforations.

Dark-Pooled Pinch Bowl

A hand-pinched, asymmetric bowl textured in fine combed lines outside, its interior glazed a deep glossy brown-black.

Companions Relief Plaque

A slab plaque carved in relief with two standing figures, arms around each other, set against a striated blue-green ground.

Maroon-Haired Face Vessel

A vessel with a closed-eyed, smiling face pressed into one side, framed by cascading dark maroon textured hair.

Lustre Pot Trio

A cluster of three raku-fired pots — one larger, two small — each glazed in a dripping bronze-and-blue metallic lustre.

Rope-Rim Reactive Bowl

A deep round bowl seen from above: a twisted rope-textured inner rim in gunmetal and gold, framed by a wide band of reactive violet-pink glaze.

Masterwork Monograph

Curated Archival Focus

Large ceramic basin with a crackled cream rim and deep cobalt-blue combed glaze interior
Catalogue ID #012 Stoneware Basin

Blue-Combed Basin

A wide, triangular basin with a crackled cream rim that gives way to a deep cobalt-blue interior, its glaze combed into fine radiating lines.

FormWide Basin
GlazeCombed Cobalt
Valuation₹19,500
Catalogue ID #042 Face Vessel

Spiral-Eyed Face Vessel

A round white pot with a face built into its wall — spiral-carved eyes, an arched nose and a small mouth traced in warm amber glaze, echoed in the rim band above.

FormFace Pot
GlazeAmber on White
Valuation₹15,000
Round white ceramic pot with a face built into the clay, spiral eyes and amber glaze linework
Studio Methodology

The 6 Stages of Ceramic Alchemy

A deliberate, unhurried progression honoring traditional Indian clay traditions. No automated wheels. No synthetic molds.

01

Clay • Sourcing & Ageing

Gathering regional central MP river silt, grog, and earthen clays. Cured in cool studio basins for weeks to develop natural plastic memory.

02

Hand • Slow Pinch & Coil

Every curve is formed through slow rhythmic thumb pressure and coil layering. Wall thickness is intuitively tuned through tactile sensation.

03

Form • Sgraffito & Piercing

At leather-hard stage, Ranu carves closed facial features, cuts organic lattices, and incises folk-inspired narrative sgraffito lines.

04

Fire • Bisque at 900°C

Gentle initial firing removing chemical water, hardening the delicate sculpted figures while retaining porosity for glaze adhesion.

05

Glaze • Minerals & Ash

Hand-formulated wood ash, manganese oxide, iron dip, and reactive copper stains brushed, poured, and dipped in deliberate layers.

06

Object • 1240°C Reduction

High-temperature reduction atmosphere starving oxygen to produce spontaneous iridescent melts, iron freckling, and perpetual vitrification.

"No two handmade pieces are ever identical — variation is the true signature of earth."
Shamla Hills Kiln Chamber
Origin & Geography

The River Journey

The soul of Mittio House traces back to childhood days spent along the Shakkar and Narmada riverbanks in Gadarwara. Observing village potters shaping clay water handis ignited an early devotion that later matured into formal architectural ceramics in the lake city of Bhopal.

A
Gadarwara, Narsinghpur
22.92° N • Shakkar & Narmada Confluence

Foundational sensory memory of clay, rural earth kilns, and seasonal harvest rituals.

198 km Terracotta Thread
B
Bhopal Studio Atelier
23.25° N • Shamla Hills & Upper Lake

Confluence of modern interior spatial practice, high-temperature kilns, and fine art gallery cataloging.

White ceramic boat-shaped dish with a dark textured accent at one tip
Pale wavy-rimmed ceramic dish with soft blue-green glaze flecks
Triptych Convergence

Three Worlds. One Practice.

The unique confluence of disciplines defining Ranu Shrivastava's studio oeuvre.

01 // Spatial Rigor

Interior Space

Diploma in Interior Design (Women's Polytechnic Bhopal, 1998). Deep comprehension of spatial volume, ambient shadow transitions, and how sculpted ceramic forms anchor tranquil modern sanctuaries.

Scale • Proportion
02 // Heritage Pulse

Folk Memory

Visual syntax influenced by Gond ritual murals, Warli geometric repetition, and indigenous central Indian clay deity figures preserved in regional rural sanctuaries.

Myth • Lineage
03 // Pyrotechnic Study

Ceramic Chemistry

Intensive hands-on ceramic mastery at IGRMS Bhopal. Formulating bespoke mineral slips, testing clay shrinkage, and pushing the thermal shock boundaries of Indian high-fire stoneware.

Oxides • Alchemy
Architectural Integration

Made for Spaces

Ceramics as spatial focal points. Guided by Ranu's interior architecture background, each form is proportioned to live in deliberate harmony with timber, lime plaster, linen, and raw stone.

The Meditation Threshold

Entryways and transition alcoves welcoming guests with quiet, closed-eye dualities that slow the heart rate.

The Low Console & Bench

Horizontal riverbed wave platters resting along teak wood consoles, interacting with grazing morning light.

The Library & Study Niche

Textured hollow stoneware forms standing silently between art monographs and architectural folios.

Heart-shaped ceramic face plaque glazed half mustard-yellow, half white
Tall rust-brown ceramic vessel with a diagonal perforated cream lattice band
Curatorial Record

Exhibition & Market Archive

Selected gallery shows, artisanal markets, and juried ceramic convocations across India.

2026Khajuraho Festival of Arts • Feature Pavilion
Curated Solo Studio ShowcaseUpcoming
2025Kanoriya Centre for Arts
Ahmedabad, Gujarat • Contemporary Clay InvitationalSelected Works
2025Bhopal Potters Market
Bharat Bhavan Grounds, BhopalHome Studio
2024Baroda Potters Market & Goa Potters Market
Vadodara • PanajiStudio Series IV
2023Hyderabad & Pune Potters Market
Sculptural vessels & table objectsNational Circuit
2021Goa Potters Market
Debut Studio Collection • Mittio House LaunchStudio Debut
Material Honesty

The Clay Room

The studio smells of damp loam, calcined wood ash, and drying plaster slabs. The tool bench carries carved neem-wood ribs, vintage dental scrapers, brass wire loops, and wild boar bristle brushes gathered across Madhya Pradesh.

Hand-mixed red grog stoneware body
Natural wood-ash and iron-rich slips
Single-batch experimental glaze tests
Three metallic lustre-glazed pots viewed from above, gold rims catching light
Perforated honeycomb-textured vessel in olive and gold glaze with a dark rim
Small gilded ceramic diorama tray with a pillared walkway and white pebble border
Interactive Deconstruction

Reading the Glaze

Select each point to look closer at one bowl — from its crackled rim to the spiral glaze pooled at its centre.

Ceramic bowl with a crackled cream rim and a deep blue spiral-combed interior
Detail 01

Crackled Rim

The cream rim is left unglazed and allowed to crackle and fissure, a rough frame around the smooth glazed bowl within.

Surface: Crackle Bisque Colour: Ivory
Select Hotspot 1 – 4
Tailored Sanctuary Art

Made for a Particular Space?

Mittio House collaborates closely with residential interior architects, landscape designers, and discerning art collectors for custom dimensional ceramics.

From multi-piece wall assemblies and courtyard totems to site-specific console sculptures, each commission begins with floor plans, ambient lighting studies, and tactile material swatches.

Studio Commission Timeline 6 to 8 Weeks

Includes hand formulation, slow drying, dual firings, and certified provenance documentation.

Direct Studio Contact studio@mittiohouse.in Shamla Hills, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh — by prior appointment only. Chat on WhatsApp

Commission Inquiry Brief

The Clay Journal

Notes from the Clay Room

Essays on slow living, tactile memory along the Narmada river, and the meditative philosophies behind handmade ceramics.

Detail of a perforated cream ceramic dish with a spiral cutout pattern
Essay • 4 Min Read

Why Handmade Is Never Identical

On accepting the unpredictable fissures of gas reduction kilns, the unique moisture of human fingertips, and how modern precision forgets the soul of natural clay.

Ceramic vessel with a sculpted, closed-eyed face and cascading dark red hair
Philosophy • 6 Min Read

The Stories Behind Closed Eyes

Why do almost all sculptures leaving the Bhopal atelier feature peaceful, sleeping countenances? Reflections on silence in a hyper-connected era.

Close-up of a tall ceramic vessel with a crackled black-veined ivory glaze
Interior Space • 5 Min Read

Placing Clay in Modern Architecture

A designer's handbook to curating unglazed stoneware, tactile platters, and organic ceramics across concrete, teak, and exposed brick interiors.

Studio Epilogue

Taking a piece of the studio home.

Each ceramic vessel holds the memory of clay, water, human hands, and wood fire. Designed to live silently with you for generations.

Studio Atelier • Shamla Hills, Bhopal • Worldwide Insured Crating •