Rago Auctions

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Helen Woodhull had a prolific career that spanned over 30 years. A passion for travel ignited a love of history that would go on to inform her design aesthetic. She opened her first store, The Leogryph, in 1965 where she fashioned unique pieces of jewelry that incorporated historical items such as Greek and Roman intaglios, Egyptian amulets, and Chinese jade. Quickly finding success with her jewelry, Woodhull closed her store in 1968 to design jewelry exclusively for Georg Jensen which she did until 1974 when the company was sold. Woodhull was one of only three emerging designers (Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co., and Aldo Cipullo for Cartier were the others) that worked under their own name in the 1960s. Her greatest success was her ability to join the past and the present in modern designs that were widely beloved. 

Woodhull continued to design for important houses, such as Peacock, Caldwell, and Gump. Missing the intimacy owning her own studio provided, Woodhull also opened another atelier in New York City, relocating storefronts once in 1988, until her eventual retirement in 1994. After her passing in 2005, her designs were sold exclusively at James Robinson, Inc.