The Tamesis
A late 19th-century stained glass window designed by Tiffany Studios that has hung in a Connecticut church for more than a century will go up for auction in June and is expected to sell for up to $2 million.
Boyd Family Memorial Window (Waterfall)According to reports, it will be the protagonist of Christie’s design auction in New York since 1898 Art Network News. Installed in Winsted’s Second Congregational Church in 1899, this two-panel work shows a lush landscape at sunset, with a waterfall in the foreground and mountains in the distance framed by blooming lilies and irises.
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The window was commissioned by Ellen Wright Boyd in memory of her parents, and it has remained in place for approximately 125 years. Proceeds from the sale will be used to support the church’s operations and programming, according to Christie’s.
The piece stands out among Tiffany Studios’ themed pieces. Rarely does a waterfall take center stage in a company’s showcase. The piece also features a gemstone emblem on the top, adding to the sense of drama often seen in the studio’s late 19th-century commissions.
Its appearance at auction fits a wider pattern. In recent years, major Tiffany windows have begun to circulate more frequently. Art Network News They are reportedly frequently transferred from site-specific contexts to private collections and museums. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the three parts garden landscape (1912) by 2023, while Dana Memorial Window (1913) sold at Sotheby’s the following year for $12.4 million, setting an auction record for the studio. Christie’s will Goddard Memorial Window (1910) sold for $4.2 million in 2025. Bentonville, Ark.-based Crystal Bridges also announced last year that it had acquired Mountain view (root memorial window) From a church in Texas.
The Boyd Window has undergone conservation in the past, including restoration work in the 1990s to address deteriorating problems. It is one of several Tiffany commissions still ongoing at the church, alongside another symbolic window and mosaic installed in memory of a long-time deacon. Now, after more than a century of filtering light into the same sanctuary, the window will be seen in an entirely different context: the auction room.
