Stained-glass Tiffany window sells for record $12.48 million at auction

(CNN) — A stained-glass Tiffany window originally designed for an Ohio church has sold for $12.48 million at auction.

The Danner Memorial Window fetched more than $5 million over the upper limit of its estimated value when it went on sale at the New York branch of Sotheby’s on Monday.

Bidding opened at $4.5 million but the price soon skyrocketed as three bidders spent six and a half minutes battling it out for the leaded glass window, which was expected to fetch between $5 million and $7 million.

The dazzling window, which stands at 16 feet high, was the result of a collaboration between acclaimed artist Louis Comfort Tiffany – son of Tiffany & Co. founder Charles Lewis Tiffany – and Agnes Northrop, one of the firm’s leading designers.

The vibrant and colourful landscape depicts fruit-laden trees along the banks of a winding river, with a sunset in the background. Bright red poppies are also dotted at the feet of the trees.

This is the first time the window has come to auction in 24 years and the sale sets a new auction record for Tiffany Studios. It sold for $2 million back in 2000, which was a world record for a Tiffany window at that time.

Northrop, who started work for the firm in the 1880s and was a trailblazer in a male-dominated arena, designed a memorial window to her father for the Reformed Church of Flushing in New York in 1903. That was the “thematic precursor” for the Danner Memorial Window 10 years later, Sotheby’s said in a press statement.

The dazzling glass piece was designed as a memorial to John and Terressa Danner, founding members of the First Baptist Church in Canton, Ohio. The congregation commissioned the piece to honor the couple’s 50 years of service. Unusually, the couple were still alive to see the tribute to them.

The window, previously owned by billionaire art collector Alan Gerry, was sold to an anonymous bidder over the phone.

Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th-century design, said in the statement: “This record-breaking sale of The Danner Memorial Window celebrates not only a Tiffany masterpiece but a landmark moment for the Tiffany market. This auction is an important milestone, marking the first time a major work by Tiffany Studios has appeared within the context of a marquee evening auction, firmly establishing Tiffany within the pantheon of the most iconic artists of the twentieth century.

“Created at the peak of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Agnes Northrop’s careers, this spectacular landscape window epitomizes Tiffany’s unrivaled artistry. This sale also honors the eye and vision of Alan Gerry, whose dedication to American art has left a lasting impact on cultural preservation and American heritage.”

A similar work from Tiffany Studios is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The museum acquired Garden Landscape, designed in 1912, a three-part window designed by Northrop, last year.

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