First Presbyterian Church in Topeka, Kansas, is selling one of its ten Tiffany stained-glass windows at Sotheby's Design sale on December 10. The Jonathan Thomas Memorial Window, a rare medallion window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany himself in 1910, carries an estimate of $1.5 million to $2 million. The church cites the high cost of maintaining its historic building and the Tiffany windows—sending just one window for repair cost over $50,000—as the reason for the sale. The auction also features a magnolia floor lamp designed by Agnes Northrup, estimated at $2 million to $3 million.
The sale highlights the ongoing tension between preserving historic religious artworks and the financial realities faced by aging congregations. As churches struggle with dwindling membership and rising maintenance costs, selling valuable art assets becomes a pragmatic but controversial solution. The auction also reflects the strong market for Tiffany works, following recent high-priced sales including a $4.2 million Gilded Age memorial window at another auction house.