A window on Ireland goes on sale in US

A pricey piece of Waterford glass will come under the hammer in Christie's of New York on Wednesday, but it wasn't cut in the…

A pricey piece of Waterford glass will come under the hammer in Christie's of New York on Wednesday, but it wasn't cut in the county famed for its crystal.

The "Thomas Lynch Window", commissioned in 1905, depicts a scene in Waterford. What it cost Mr Lynch, the wealthy American son of Irish immigrants, is not known. But its estimated value now is between $200,000 and $300,000 (£183,700 to £275,500). Lynch wanted to depict his grandfather's farm in Ballyduff, near Dungarvan, so he placed his order with the greatest glass decorator of his day, Louis Comfort Tiffany. The window was built into the home he built in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1907.

Lynch, born in Pennsylvania in 1854, was the son of Patrick and Nancy Daniel Lynch. A period photograph provided by family members in Dungarvan confirmed to Christie's that the scene was based on a real building. The Dungarvan Historical Society helped link the window to the old farmstead. Thomas Lynch was a leading figure in the coal trade. He is credited with coining the phrase "safety first". He died in 1914.

The window, measuring 1.4 by 2.1 metres, was removed from the house in 1945.