Square Ceramic Mirror, 1950s

A singular object, faithful to the artist's sunny, luxurious universe. Mithé Espelt creates the border of this mirror in stamped and enameled clay. The beautifully glazed enamels feature luminous variations of ochres, browns, echoing the natural beauty of southern France. How is Mithé Espelt? Marie-Thérèse Espelt, better known as Mithé Espelt, was born in 1923 in Lunel in the Camargue region of southern France. She grew up surrounded by the exceptional social circle of her grandfather Edmond Baissat, friend of 1904 Nobel literature prizewinner Frédéric Mistral and Parisian painter and decorator Jean Hugo. His early acquaintances were to have a decisive artistic influence on the young woman. In 1939, at the age of 16, she entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier, where she studied drawing and sculpture. Her work attracted the attention of ceramist and visionary Emilie Decanis, who selected her to take part in numerous exhibitions. Mithé Espelt moved to Paris and began her career at Nathalie Pol's Atelier Lydia Chartier, where she created ceramic buttons for Haute Couture houses and Line Vautrin, among others. In 1946, Mithé returned to her hometown and set up a ceramics workshop in the Hôtel de Bernis. She gradually abandoned classical pottery and concentrated on creating everyday objects for women. She quickly established a reputation for her ceramic work and accessories, including jewelry, mirrors, jewelry boxes and buttons. In 1948, she collaborated with Charles Démery, founder of Souleiado, who distributed her jewelry in his boutiques for 40 years. A dominant force in mid-twentieth-century ceramics and decorative arts in France, with over five hundred ceramic designs, Mithé Espelt's ostensibly feminine work resonates with colorful poetry and sparkling joy. The artist died on September 24, 2020 in Lunel.