Two stained glass rose windows from a historic West Philadelphia church that turned out to be Tiffany sold for $100,000 each at Freeman’s auction on Thursday, writes Zoe Greenberg for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The windows, which were designed by Tiffany Studios in 1904, were sold last November for $6000, bundled with other furnishings.

The windows set untouched for a hundred years at the colossal church. Last summer, Emmanuel Christian Center bought the historic building from Hickman Temple A.M.E. Church. William Brownlee, Sr., the new pastor, began renovating the space to modernize it.

He sold the windows in the fall to architectural salvager Paul Brown, who did not realize that the windows were Tiffany.

One day before the auction, Brown and Brownlee were in discussions to transfer 25 percent of the net profits from the sale to Emmanuel Christian Center.

“A portion of the proceeds of the sale should rightfully go to the church that’s focused on helping residents,” said Brownlee.

The center would welcome an influx of money since the renovation of the church had to be suspended due to a lack of funds.

Read more about the windows in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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The word “Tiffany” brings to mind fine jewelry and decorative art, but at the turn of the nineteenth century, designer Louis Comfort Tiffany was known for his glass work, particularly his stained glass windows. Rich in meaning and symbolism, stained glass windows were often used in churches as a teaching tool for helping supplement the text of the Bible.