Story
A PASSION FOR JEWELRY, AN ILLUSTRIOUS HERITAGE
Taking up the family torch, Lou Woolworth joined the business, and now runs Galerie Woolworth, named after her mother, Isabelle Subra Woolworth. Isabelle had inherited the business from her mother, Jacqueline Subra, who founded the gallery almost 60 years ago.
Lou has proven to be vibrant and eclectic in her selection of works, mixing genres, styles and periods to create a coherent and harmonious dialogue between each of her carefully chosen pieces.
She has also made it her mission to continue the work started by her grandmother and her mother by exhibiting artists who have played a pivotal role in the Gallery’s reputation, such as Line Vautrin, Claude Lalanne, Catherine Noll and Goudji.
FROM MOTHERS TO DAUGHTERS, THREE GENERATIONS
The story began in the mid-1960s in the Montparnasse district of Paris. Jacqueline Subra, Lou’s grandmother and Isabelle’s mother, was a self-taught antiques dealer of extraordinary talent. She created a unique shop in Paris that quickly became a great success. Curiosities, antiques, furniture and a first selection of jewelry demonstrated her exceptional eye and quickly attracted a loyal clientele comprised of artists, designers and film stars
The Gallery’s focus on antique jewelry began early, when Jacqueline and Isabelle, working side by side, showcased original Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewelry by both lesser-known jewelers and the most prominent figures in the field, such as René Lalique, Georges and Jean Fouquet, René Boivin, Cartier.
From Montparnasse, the gallery relocated to the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, on the Rue de Seine, in the former offices of the French architect and designer Marc Held, where the magnificent staircase designed by Held himself is still in place.
LINE VAUTRIN, A FAMILY AFFAIR
Jacqueline Subra and her daughter Isabelle Subra Woolworth were also pioneers in the field of antique jewelry. They played a key role, for instance, in the rediscovery of Line Vautrin, a celebrated French designer of jewelry and decorative objects who had enjoyed considerable success in the late 1930s.
Line Vautrin, renowned for her jewelry, also created «witch mirrors» and bronze jewelry boxes—compact boxes and pill boxes—engraved with poetic inscriptions. She was also known for her invention of a new material —talosel— which embodied her special expertise.
Line Vautrin has always had a place of honor in the gallery, across generations and «tastes,» and continues to be represented in a special showcase dedicated to her work.
Jacqueline and her daughter Isabelle built up an exceptional collection of the designer’s work, in particular her mirrors and boxes, which were sold at a prestigious auction at Christie’s New York in 2006.
