A spectacularly colorful, 16-foot-tall Tiffany stained glass window will make a rare appearance at auction next month. Designed in 1913, the Danner Memorial Window will be among the highlights of Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction on November 18. A new auction record for Tiffany stained glass will likely be set—a record this window has already broken before.
Sotheby’s Announces Upcoming Sale of Tiffany Stained Glass
Louis Comfort Tiffany famously revolutionized stained glass as an art form during America’s Gilded Age. At the turn of the 20th century, Tiffany’s design studio crafted the Danner Memorial Window, a monumental masterwork of Tiffany stained glass. This particular piece was designed as a tribute to John and Terressa Danner, who founded the First Baptist Church in Canton, Ohio. It depicts a vibrant sunset landscape of lush fruit trees and a winding river, with a swath of poppies blooming in the foreground. At the bottom of the window is an inscription from the Gospel of Matthew: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Tiffany recruited the technical and creative expertise of one of his star employees, window designer Agnes Northrup, for this design. Jodi Pollack, chairman of 20th-century design at Sotheby’s New York, explained to Artnet, “Tiffany and Northrop were leveraging the qualities of their own Favrile glass to achieve the same painterly effects of light as the great Impressionist painters of their time.”
Tiffany Stained Glass Could Fetch up to $7 Million
Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox
Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterA full-size, high-quality Tiffany stained glass window rarely comes to market. The current owner of the Danner Memorial Window purchased the piece at a Christie’s auction in 2000. The winning bid was $2 million, making it the most valuable Tiffany stained glass ever offered at auction. Now, it is poised to break its own record next month at Sotheby’s with a pre-sale estimate of $5 million to $7 million.
“The window has so many hallmarks that really make it a masterpiece. It has impressive scale and grandeur when you’re standing in front of it; the composition is incredibly elaborate and complex,” said Pollack. “It is absolutely dazzling.” Prior to the auction, Sotheby’s will exhibit the Danner Memorial Window at its New York headquarters from November 8 to 18. This will be the window’s first public appearance since 2000.
Who Was Agnes Northrup?
The Danner Memorial Window is formally attributed to Tiffany Studios. However, its intricately mesmerizing design is primarily the work of Agnes Northrup. While Louis Comfort Tiffany founded and led Tiffany Studios, he commissioned a group of craftswomen known as the “Tiffany Girls” to actually create most of the iconic Tiffany windows, vases, and lamps. Many of these women also contributed their own designs to the studio’s iconic aesthetic.
Tiffany Studios hired Agnes Northrup in 1884. She went on to design several important pieces, including the Danner Memorial Window. While Tiffany offered women equal pay to that of men, he did not hire or retain married women. As such, Northrup, an aspiring designer, chose not to marry and climbed the ranks at Tiffany Studios.
