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Purobi Menon browses through the wares at Anant, a lifestyle store in New Delhi and an art-lover's paradise.

If you thought pottery was all about pottering around with some messy clay and a wheel, think again. The tribe of pottery enthusiasts would beg to differ. While it is no doubt a humble art, more within the realm of a craft and not as elevated as the fine arts, it is fashionable, deeply creative and fulfilling, with an aesthetic tradition all its own.

At pottery enthusiast, Mamta Singhania's lifestyle showroom, the pieces on display are truly different. As an artist who is deeply committed to and knows her work, Mamta not only displays her wares with a difference, but is also able to display a range that is unique.

The showroom, called Anant and located at Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi, showcases an interesting mix of materials. Fragile ceramic mugs encased in stainless steel grips, ceramic snack platters in yin-yang shapes ensconced in comfortable cane and wood and leather photo-frames and stationery stands.Designs that combine easy functionality with originality, which make all the difference.

But it was the faience pottery which really caught my eye. The pieces are riveting, in brilliant flaming colours with a glossy finish. Faience, which is known by different names across the continent, traces its roots back to the Egyptians 5,500 years ago. It was in the13th-century Italy that it got elevated to the status of a decorative art known as maiolica, or tin-glazed earthenware.

From Italy, decorated earthenware spread all over the Continent, acquiring different names depending on the place of production.While in France it is known as faience, in Holland and England it is called Delftware. In the US, it is known as Minton Majolica since Minton was the place where it was introduced, in the 1840s.

Faience, as an aesthetic tradition, has fired the imagination of craftspersons and artists alike. In the 1950s, it welcomed more devotees from the art world, the more famous among them being Marc Chagall and Picasso. Shedding some light on her experience with pottery, Mamta informs me that pottery calls for tremendous skill. Pottery, she says, is both a challenging and a fulfilling exercise as "no one ever knows what the final outcome will be.''

At this point, I spot miniature bamboo reeds in a small urn. Another example of her aesthetic sense, Mamta tells me that the imported bamboo reeds were popular with her clients.

The growing popularity of glassware has seen some top-of-the-line European names find themselves in Indian stores. The Lady Hamilton wine glasses from the Moser line of the Czech Republic are a connoisseur's delight. They come in a range of alluring colours including aquamarine, alexandrite, beryl, rosalin, royal blue and topaz.

While the Lady Hamilton range features luxuryware at its best, the Zen collection of ceramic ware would do any minimalist proud. An interesting range of bone china features the African zebra in the Savane collection, and the Pommes Vertes, which is a set of six plates with a complete whole apple being desecrated till you're left with only the seeds on the final plate.

An art-lover's paradise is how I would sum up Anant. It has an art gallery with works by well-known artists on display and a coffee outlet to savour the flavour and ambience.

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