Cartier

Georges Lurcy and Alice Barbee Lurcy were well-known for their exquisite Fabergé, jewelry and fine art collection. The French-born Lurcy was a successful businessman and avid art collector who shared his passion for the arts with his American wife. The couple married in France in 1937 but, at the outbreak of World War II, they emigrated to New York where they established one of the most important American collections of Impressionist paintings, French furniture and objects of vertu.

After Georges’ death the majority of the collection was sold in two landmark sales at Parke-Bernet New York in 1957. A few prized items remained in Alice Lurcy’s possession and later gifted to her niece, Alice Albert Nelson. Among these were Alice’s Fabergé items, including a rare table box currently offered in Sotheby’s London’s November 30 sale of Russian Works of Art (lot 401); a natural pearl necklace by Cartier that brought well over $1 million in 2012; and the gold bangle presented here.