Mirror by Mithe Espelt (1923-2020)

Mirror by Mithé Espelt Born in 1923 in Lunel to a family of winemakers, Mithé Espelt remained deeply attached to her native Camargue region.

Mithé Espelt began her career in Paris at Nathalie Pol’s “Atelier Lydia Chartier,” creating ceramic buttons for haute couture houses and Line Vautrin, among others. A skilled artisan, she quickly took charge of the workshop’s production and mastered the subtleties of the gold color.

However, deeply attached to her native region, in late 1946—at just 23 years old—she decided to return to Lunel and set up her ceramics studio in an outbuilding of the Hôtel de Bernis, which she had inherited from her grandfather. Under the Camargue’s sun and surrounded by nature, Mithé Espelt transformed clay into gold. She met and married the lawyer Maurice Figère.

This choice to pursue a life as an artist allowed the couple to travel and discover other cultures, which became sources of inspiration for the studio’s new designs.

Distributed in Souleiado boutiques, the ceramic creations were a huge success. They included feminine accessories—mirrors, jewelry boxes, necklaces, buttons—as well as practical items such as key chains and thermometers.