MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. – A trio of exceptional Tiffany Studios pieces known as ‘paperweight’ vases flew past expectations at The Benefit Shop Foundation‘s September 27 Red Carpet Auction.

Like many of the best objects in this sale, they traced their provenance to the family of Byron DeWitt Miller (1875-1960) – the errand boy from Portland, Maine who became the president of Woolworth.

It was under the aegis of Louis Comfort Tiffany that the Tiffany Studios began exhibiting ‘paperweight’ objects alongside other elements of the favrile glass range around 1900. Using the hot glass, caning and encasement techniques mastered in 19th-century France, in the first two decades of the new century Tiffany’s artists pushed the medium further to create new effects. A series of ‘paperweight’ botanical vases that appeared to trap flowers and water within the glass became the signature product.

The three vases offered on September 27 – all signed, numbered and retaining original paper labels to the base – represented a good cross section of the paperweight medium. And, with estimates in the hundreds, they attracted more than 100 admirers each on the LiveAuctioneers platform. Ultimately, all three sold to internet bidders at the sort of five-figure sums similar pieces have commanded at sales in Manhattan.

The largest, at 8in high, was worked with a design of stylized poppies. It hammered for $16,000 ($20,640 including buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $200-$500. Sold at $11,000 ($14,190 with buyer’s premium) against a similar estimate was a 5in squat form vase with marbled botanical leaf and vine decoration, while a particularly sophisticated vase with red and marbled green tomato vine decoration brought $21,000 ($27,090 with buyer’s premium).

A fourth Tiffany favrile glass vase demonstrated a different, but again, scarce form of decoration of the type popularized by the glassmakers of Nancy, France. The 8in cameo vase in a dark red and yellow opaque glass carved as a floral bloom sold at $4,000 ($5,160 with buyer’s premium).

Byron DeWitt Miller had the ultimate retailing career, climbing from the bottom to the top of the ladder to become president of the world’s largest variety store chain. His big break came in 1908, when he was chosen by Frank W. Woolworth to launch the firm’s first transatlantic stores.

Between 1909-20 — around the time these vases were made — Miller was involved in the creation of more than 80 Woolworth stores across the UK. His first openings in 1912 were in Brixton (which he considered to be the British equivalent of Brooklyn, New York), and in Bristol (which he compared to Atlantic City, New Jersey). He became the third president of the company in 1930.

Like many industrialists of the pre-war era, Miller was an ardent collector of American, European and Oriental works of art. Other items from the estate were offered by The Benefit Shop in 2021, when several Chinese works of art flew to big numbers.

Much the same happened again in September. Occasionally the cataloging left something to be desired, but frequently the bidding did not. A Qing double-lozenge jardiniere and tray decorated with auspicious symbols in the famille rose palette was described simply as ‘a Chinese chinoiserie porcelain flowerpot.’ Estimated at $100-$200, it hammered for $43,000 ($55,470 with buyer’s premium). These were unmarked but almost certainly made in the later years of the Qing dynasty. Jardinieres and trays for growing narcissus bulbs were popular in the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods.

Described only as a ‘molded amber sculpture on a stand’ was an amber brush washer carved in the form of a lotus flower. The quintessential Qing scholar’s object and a rarity in amber, it took $10,000 ($12.900 with buyer’s premium) from an internet bidder via Live Auctioneers against an estimate of $40-$90.

The Benefit Shop Foundation Inc. is a registered not-for-profit that operates to raise funds for local charities.