Charming and highly decorative ceramic mirror by Mithé Espelt, created in her renowned Lunel workshop in the South of France during the 1960s. The square frame is richly adorned with stylized pink birds, flowering branches, and foliage rendered in vibrant relief against a deep cobalt-blue glazed background.
This whimsical composition exemplifies Espelt’s poetic visual language, inspired by nature and executed with her characteristic mastery of color and texture. Delicate craquelure glazes, sculpted details, and softly modeled forms give the piece remarkable depth and vitality.
Unlike Espelt's more minimalist gilt mirrors, this model belongs to her highly sought-after figurative production, where birds, flowers, and botanical motifs become the central decorative theme. The vivid palette of pink, green, white, and blue creates a joyful and unmistakably Mediterranean presence.
Marie Thérèse Espelt, aka. Mithé Espelt (1923-2020)
Born in the town of Lunel, near Montpelier; Mithé Espelt began her career in 1943 creating ceramic buttons for haute couture collections at the Nathalie Pol and Lydia Chartier’s atelier in Paris. In 1946 she decided to return to her hometown and set up her ceramic workshop in an annex building next to the hotel de Bernis that she had inherited from her grandfather. She married the lawyer Maurice Figère, who decided to leave his career aside and follow her in her artistic work. The choice of an artistic life allow them to travel and get inspiration from other cultures, something that is palpable on her works. She made everyday objects such as jewelry boxes necklaces, mirrors and other home accessories, and never signed them, as she wanted them to remain accessible to all publics. Today Mithé’s work are recognizable by the quality of their craftmanship. Her pieces are often made with crackled gold enamels and colored glass incrustations, which were a technical challenges requesting several rounds in the kelns and hours on the work stations. Mithé Espelt worked until the year 2000. Her workshop continues to exist but is now run by her daughter, Marion de Crécy.