Rare Tiffany church windows sold for $100K each at auction house in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Rare Tiffany church windows were sold at a Philadelphia auction house Thursday for hundreds of thousands.
"It's a diamond in the rough. It's the find that you hope for," Tim Andreadis said.
That find is the rose windows currently on display at Freeman's auction house in Center City made by Tiffany Studios. Decorative arts and design division director Andreadis says they were created in the early 1900s.
"These were in a remarkable state of preservation, they had a few cracks which is totally normal," Andreadis said. "Right in our backyard."
The windows were brought to Freeman's last fall by a local consigner. Andreadis says the man called asking for help to see if the windows were Tiffany glass.
"Sometimes people think they have a real gem and it may not be," Andreadis said.
The pair went up for auction Thursday morning. Within moments the windows sold for $100,000 each.
NEXT | These windows were brought to Freeman’s Auctions in Center City by a local consigner last fall.
— Nikki DeMentri (@nikkidementri) May 18, 2023
Freeman’s says the man called to ask if the church windows were Tiffany glass. They were.
Today they sold at auction for $200,000.
Full story at 6:10 on @CBSPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/NzbfxvOQHq
Andreadis says the church windows were bought by the consigner for some $6,000.
"Our consigner saw these for sale on the Facebook marketplace. Great things show up everywhere," Andreadis said.
Plywood now covers where one of the rose windows once was.
The West Philly building is the Emmanuel Christian Center but at the time of installation, it was St. Paul's Presbyterian.
"Another thing that's special about this particular window is the dove in the center," Andreadis said.
According to Freeman's, the consigner is donating a portion of the $200,000 sale to the West Philly church to help with some much-needed repairs.
"A lot of these treasures are hidden in plain sight. All around us," Andreadis said.
The buyer, who Freeman says is a private collector, wishes to remain anonymous.
Andreadis says it's unclear their exact plans for the windows.