PAUL MILET

BIOGRAPHY

Paul Milet is a French ceramist born January 25, 1870 in Sèvres, where he died April 28, 1950.

He is the son of the ceramist Félix Optat Milet (1838-1911). After training in the laboratory of the Manufacture de Sèvres, he became a chemist and worked in the factory founded by his father in 1866 at 8, rue Troyon in Sèvres, a stone's throw from the Manufacture.

From 1890, he gradually took over from his father. Like him, he will continue to benefit from the collaboration of the artists of the National Ceramics Factory of Sèvres.

In 1899, he married Marie-Louise Gibert (known as Céline), whose brother Paul held the position of director in Paris at Haviland, a famous Limoges porcelain manufacturer.

Paul Milet worked with his father Optat Milet until his death in 1911, then with his son Henri, a ceramics engineer, who was appointed director of the factory in 1931, which did not prevent father and son from work in close collaboration.

The Miletus live in an artistic environment. The collaborators of Paul Milet are named L. Narbonne, Émile Belet, Lucien d'Eaubonne, Lucien Simonnet and also Froment-Delormel from 1896 to 1899.

Albert Dammouse and Jean Mayodon learned their trade as ceramists at home. They distribute their production in the Delvaux boutique at 18, rue Royale in Paris, founded by Félix Optat Milet and his friend Clément Massier, and through the Grand Dépôt located at 21-23, rue Drouot in Paris.

Until 1925, Paul Milet owned a showroom at 51, rue de Paradis, a district of Paris long dedicated to tableware.

Milet also distributed its productions through department stores, La Samaritaine or Galeries Lafayette. He also had an exhibition gallery at 8, rue Troyon in Sèvres.