Rosalie Coe Weir was neither a celebrity nor a person who lived extravagantly. Though a modest and private person, she donated generously to the arts, but always anonymously. Yet her and her family’s collection was the perfect refined blend of everything. From the finest jewelry, important paintings, pieces of American history to rare Asian porcelain, the collection would make for a fabulous series of auctions. Because she had no children, the job of co-executors fell to a dear friend of Ms. Weir’s and to a lawyer whom she had known for decades.

We began at her unassuming apartment on the Upper East Side, which was decorated with antiques, porcelain, glassware, and paintings. Then, we visited Morgan Manhattan Storage, a prewar warehouse in Yorkville with big steel doors, high ceilings, and rough concrete floors. Here we found more antique furniture and the remainder of the art collection, including a 1911 painting of the beach at Tangiers by the renowned Irish artist John Lavery. Our next stop was Manhattan Mini Storage on East 62nd — three units, packed to the gills in this more modern facility. Finally, we made a trip to the co-executor’s law offices, where antique silver and incredible jewelry pieces — wrapped in newspaper from the Clinton era — had been kept in a vault. All of these locations contained wonderful treasures, tucked away in old boxes that were a little dusty and in need of being brought out into the light.