The Boyd Family Memorial Window (The Falls) by Tiffany Studios will be sold to the highest bidder at a Christie’s auction at the auction house’s Rockefeller Center location in New York at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time on June 10th. The window, which was commissioned by Ellen Wright Boyd in 1898, had been installed for over a century at the Second Congregational Church in Winsted, Connecticut.
The Boyd’s were a prominent family, and their memorial window was intended to represent “the things most loved by Mr. and Mrs. Boyd,” according to the auction house. The window’s composition centers a waterfall which flows from the left to the lower right side of the piece. The waterfall is surrounded by ferns and flowers, and the piece also includes the names of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd at the bottom.
According to Christie’s the church has decided to auction off the piece order for the proceeds to “support the ongoing mission and ministries of the church.” Christie’s estimates the window will fetch between $1,500,000-2,000,000. According to Victoria Tudor, Head of Design at Christie’s New York, a broad spectrum of interested buyers will likely be placing bids, citing the window’s “impeccable provenance and exceptional rarity.”
Christie’s recently published a YouTube video on ‘The women behind Tiffany’s most celebrated glass works,’ which discusses the women, Agnes Northrop and Clara Driscoll, who designed and produced for Tiffany Studios.
Tudor told the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet that “The video supports the promotion of the window by offering deeper context around Tiffany Studios, but it is also part of a broader educational initiative.” The video offers an interpretation of the window as a naturalistic and impressionistic piece. There is also an explanation of some of the techniques which made Tiffany Studios so innovative, like the textures streaky glass, mottled glass, and the acid etched cobalt which is used on mountains in the background of the piece.
Watch the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHmGqBt8pYY
Last year Christie’s sold The Goddard Memorial Window for $4.3 million. Tudor sees the excitement around the The Boyd Family Memorial Window sale as evidence of “continued and renewed interest from global buyers who recognize Tiffany’s unique place at the intersection of art, design, and craftsmanship.”
Christie’s is emphasizing the rarity of this work. Asked how this piece compares to other Tiffany works, Tudor explained its singular technique and composition.
“Waterfall compositions of this type are exceedingly rare within Tiffany’s landscape oeuvre, and the bold placement of the waterfall in the foreground is a feature seldom seen in the firm’s ecclesiastical work,” Tudor says. "Technically, it is a masterclass: plated and textured streaky glass for the falls, rippled glass for the palms and blossoms, richly mottled glass for the mountains, and a vivid sunset unifying the composition.”
This second major Tiffany window going up for auction points to a renewed interest in Tiffany's artistry and glasswork on an international scale.
The Boyd Family Memorial Window sale is part of a larger Design auction. More information can be found at the Christie’s website: