Juliette Belarti is known for colourful ceramic tile designs usually seen on mid century modern coffee tables, nests of tables, home bars and door pulls.

So little is known about this artist, that there’s speculation that there isn’t actually a person named ‘J. Belarti’. It’s thought that it could perhaps be the work of a number of different artists or of a single person – the Belgian artist, Julien de Covemaeker.

I’ve found someone online who has helpfully shared photos of the pages of a Belarti catalogue. After some very slow and painstaking work, I’ve translated a couple of the passages of text from Dutch to English. Apparently, the first freehand decorated tile-topped coffee table was created in 1957 for a musician friend. The original Belarti ‘studio’ was in a garage and a very small kiln was located in a cellar.

After two years, the firm moved to larger premises in Mechelen – a city between Brussels and Antwerp in northern Belgium – and grew from strength to strength; becoming an équipe (crew) and gaining an international customer base.

Whoever Juliette Belarti may be, examples of work by this company or individual artist are readily available – try eBay, Etsy and Pamono.

Image credits:
1stDibs | Design by Davies