Yellow gold money clip. Photo Sotheby's

Reproducing Jean Cocteau's hand writing with the words 'ne pleurez pas', 'don't cry', to one side and 'je reviendrai', 'I will return', to the reverse, Italian assay and maker's marks. Lot 29. Estimation 1,500-2,000 CHF. Lot vendu: 21,250 CHF

It is understood that this money clip was gifted to Suzanne Belperron by Jean Cocteau.

LITTERATURE: Cf: Sylvie Raulet & Olivier Baroin, Suzanne Belperron, 2011, page 24 for an illustration of this clip.

NOTE: Born in a small town outside Paris on July 5th 1889, Jean Maurice Eugene Clement Cocteau became one of the most important members of the French avant-garde movement. At a young age he immersed himself in the Bohemian circles of Paris, associating with writers and artists such as Marcel Proust, André Gide, Modigliani and Pablo Picasso. Following World War I, Cocteau worked with several of his contemporaries. He wrote the scenario for the ballet Parade (1917), which was produced by Serge Diaghilev, for which the sets were designed by Picasso, the libretto by Guillaume Apollinaire, and the music by Erik Satie. Like so many gifted artists whose talents fell nothing short of genius, Cocteau was drawn to many art forms. In 1929 he authored the novel Les Enfants terribles. He wrote the play Le Bel Indifférent starring his close friend Edith Piaf in 1940, and in 1946, he directed one of the world's most
acclaimed films, La Belle et la Bête, followed by Orphée in 1950.

Following the death of his friend the French novelist Colette in 1954, he was offered her position in the Royal Academy of Belgium, and shortly thereafter was made a member of Académie française, just two of several honours and awards he was to receive during his lifetime. Cocteau's works would subsequently prove to be highly influential for successive generations of artists, including that of Andy Warhol. In the last decade a great resurgence of interest
has emerged for Cocteau's work, as evidenced by the massive retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2003).

The Jean Cocteau Museum opened its doors in November 2011 in Menton, France. Cocteau died of a heart attack at the age of 74. It is said that upon hearing of the death of Edith Piaf, a mere three hours earlier, his heart failed. The epitaph on his gravestone reads: Je reste avec vous, 'I stay with you'.

Sotheby's. Jewels from the Personal Collection of Suzanne Belperron. Genève | 14 mai 2012, 10:00 AM www.sothebys.com