Mary Max's $2M jewelry collection is nowhere to be found - Page Six
There’s a mystery brewing over the whereabouts of $2 million worth of jewelry belonging to Mary Max, the wife of artist Peter Max who took her own life on Sunday, Page Six is told.
“It’s a lot of jewelry. Where is it? Where is it going to go?” wondered a source close to the situation. “Family members are asking where all the gems are. No one knows.”
The source added: “Mary’s real assets in the end will be her jewelry. Peter’s family all feel the jewelry belongs to Peter — as he is the widow and he bought it all.”
Another source said that Mary informed Peter when they married “how important jewelry and clothing were to her.”
Mary was so fixated on the gems that “she used to carry all the jewelry around — sometimes in a paper bag — to get cleaned, and then go shopping. She was obsessed with diamonds, and was gifted millions by Peter over the years,” the first source said.
One time when Mary was out shopping with the bag of jewels at Saks, she even left them unattended. When a concerned friend alerted her of the apparent oversight, Mary assured the pal that no one would know to take the bag — because it was on the floor, a source recalled.
Mary, 52, was discovered in the Upper West Side apartment she shared with Peter, 81, on Sunday, cops said. The cause of death was said to be “nitrogen asphyxiation” but remains under investigation.
Mary had been involved in a bitter and bizarre legal battle over Peter — who reportedly suffers from advanced dementia — with the psychedelic artist’s son, Adam.
Her attorney John Markham declined to comment on the location of the jewelry or Mary’s specific assets, but he told Page Six that her jewelry collection was comprised of collaborative art pieces made with Peter. “Much of her jewelry was produced together with Peter… the real value of that jewelry is that it was their creation together,” he said.
He added: “She had the fondest memories of the painstaking way it was designed and created… they were very near and dear to her heart. That’s why they were so precious.”
Mary’s survived by her mother and brother, who are arranging her funeral, we hear.
A Max family rep didn’t comment.
