I can't answer that particular question, as a librarian, but I can give you some references and information regarding the history of paperweight making. You may also want to contact the studio at the Corning Museum of Glass to talk with a glassblower (studio@cmog.org). I am attaching some resources on paperweight making to this message. These you can order from our library through your local library's interlibrary loan department if they aren't available to you locally. We don't charge for loans or copies to other libraries.
Here is what I can determine from scanning the histories of paperweight making:
The lampwork style of paperweight making was introduced by the French factories during the mid-19th century (between 1840-1860). Prior to that paperweights were essentially sculpted ceramic cameos encased in crystal. Millefiori paperweights were also introduced in the mid-19th century. There are lots of different types of millefiori. Paperweights with figural elements like flowers, fruit, etc. were usually made with the lampwork method.
The attached scans go into more detail about these types of making paperweights.
Let me know if you have any problems accessing the attachments! I had to break them up into small files in order to send the scans.
Best,
