Mithé Espelt Jewelry Boxes

Jewellery box with decorative ceramic lid by Mithé Espelt (circa 1960s). Quaint raised sunflower motif with pink, green and white over a neutral dark base backdrop. The decorative surround is in Espelt's trademark gold crackle. The lid tops a small, simple wooden black box with which can be used for small jewellery items or simply as decor for display. The decorative lid is in very good overall condition. The small box reveals some characterful blemishing attesting to its age and usage. It's underside is in Espelt's trademark green felt. The overall charm is undeniable. The work, as is the case for all of the artist's pieces, is unsigned. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying this listing. Upon request, a video will be provided. About the artist: Born in Lunel in the South of France, Mithé Espelt (1923-2020) grew up in a family of affluent winegrowers and was very close to her grandfather who passed on his love for the arts and brought her into contact with major intellectuals and artists of the time. She rubbed shoulders with Jean Hugo, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Christian Bérard and many others. She graduated from the Beaux-Arts school in Montpellier in 1942, and then studied at the Fontcarrade school where she took a special interest in ceramics. She began by designing buttons for fashion houses in Paris, before managing the entire production of buttons and jewellery at the Lydia Chartier workshop and collaborating with Line Vautrin, amongst others. At the end of the war, she returned to her native south, opened her studio and took advantage of the growing excitement around ceramics, particularly those from the town of Vallauris. To stand out and sustain the workshop business she started designing gilded jewellery...

Vintage French jewellery containers with decorative ceramic lids by Mithé Espelt (circa 1970s). Flower and Bird motifs decorate these five delightful, diminutive wooden boxes. Two of the ceramic lids have golden craqueleur boundaries encircling the inner decoration. The containers would be an attractive grouping on the surface of a vanity or dressing table. Alternatively, they might simply be suitable as a splendid decorative display in the home. The pieces are in good overall condition with some minor natural differences in the colour of the woods. The overall charm is undeniable and they are real collector's items. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying the listing. Upon request, a video will be provided. About the artist: Born in 1923 in Lunel, in the South of France, Mithé Espelt grew up in a family of affluent winegrowers and was very close to her grandfather who passed on his love for the arts and brought her into contact with major intellectuals and artists of the time. She rubbed shoulders with Jean Hugo, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Christian Bérard and many others. She graduated from the Beaux-Arts school in Montpellier in 1942, and then studied at the Fontcarrade school where she took a special interest in ceramics. She began by designing buttons for fashion houses in Paris, before managing the entire production of buttons and jewellery at the Lydia Chartier workshop and collaborating with Line Vautrin, amongst others. At the end of the war, she returned to her native south, opened her studio and took advantage of the growing excitement around ceramics, particularly those from the town of Vallauris. To stand out and sustain the workshop business, she started designing gilded jewellery...

The French ceramist invites us to contemplate the beauty of everyday objects through a glazed motif of pink and white daisies, decorating a square jewelry box...

A jewelry box created as a tribute to the American musician and composer Sidney Bechet, by one of the leading figures in 20th-century French ceramics, who turned her art into an ode ...