Despite ongoing uncertainty in the global auction market, the design category remains resilient, as evidenced by Christie’s recent success. Two sales held by the auction house this June brought in a combined total of $23.6 million, driven by demand for works by Tiffany Studios, Les Lalanne, and Alberto Giacometti.
The standout lot was The Goddard Memorial Window, a three-pane, six-foot-tall stained glass window by Tiffany Studios, which sold for $4.285 million (with fees), soaring past its pre-sale estimate of $2 million to $3 million. After a competitive round of bidding between a Christie’s phone specialist and an online participant, the latter emerged victorious with a $3.5 million hammer bid.
This marks the second-highest price ever achieved for a work from Tiffany Studios, following the $12.5 million sale of the Danner Memorial Window at Sotheby’s in November 2023. That result shattered the long-standing $3.4 million record set in 2018 for a Pond Lily lamp sold by Christie’s.
Christie’s success was split between two events: the single-owner auction American Avant-Garde: The James D. Zellerbach Residence by Frances Elkins, which realized $8.1 million on June 12, and the broader Design sale, which totaled $15.4 million.
“Design is no longer confined to a niche group of collectors,” said Betsy Beierle, senior sales associate at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, speaking to ARTnews. “Even in a hesitant market, rare and exceptional works continue to command strong prices.”
The sale of The Goddard Memorial Window will benefit St. Luke’s Church, supporting its ongoing missions and endowment. The result also follows renewed institutional interest in monumental Tiffany works. In 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the massive Garden Landscape, while the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas recently announced its purchase of Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window).
With collectors showing continued appetite for rare decorative art, Christie’s strong showing suggests that quality still triumphs, even in a cautious market.
