There are numerous ways to decorate glassware and 19th-century Bohemian glass artists excelled in all of them. They often used multiple types of decoration on the same piece. For example, a small glass beaker or tumbler that sold for $75 at an auction by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates fits multiple layers, cut panels, colorful enamel, and gilding into its 3 3/4-inch frame. It is attributed to Harrach, a glasswork founded in the 18th century and still operating today as Harrachov in what is now the Czech Republic.

Harrach experienced its golden age, when it won medals at world exhibitions and made glass for royal courts, in the mid-1800s, about the time this beaker was made. It is an exquisite example of Bohemian glassmaking. Opaque white, bright red and clear glass are layered together. Cut panels ensure the color of each layer is visible. Raised opaque white panels embellished with enamel flowers alternate with panels cut to clear glass in a classic strawberry diamond pattern. Since there is no such thing as too much decoration in 19th-century glass, the red ground is covered with gilt scrolling leaves.

Q: How would I go about learning about a guitar that my great grandpa built by hand? It’s a four-string electric guitar with a port for plugging into an amplifier. It has a bunch of different strings and picks, the case was hand-built, and I have a song written by him as well.

A: Finding out about handmade musical instruments can be difficult, especially if you are trying to put a value on them. For many guitarists, both amateur and professional, building their own instruments is a natural step after learning to play and repair them. A music store, repair shop, or guitar instructor in your area may be able to help you.

It is generally agreed that the first commercially available electric guitar was the aluminum steel “Frying Pan” model, designed by George Beauchamp in 1931. However, musicians were experimenting with electricity to amplify their instruments’ sounds by the early 1900s. According to Vintage Guitar magazine, patents dating back to the 1920s adapted telephone transmitters to stringed instruments, and electronics hobbyist publications from that era encouraged readers to try it themselves. Kits to build electric guitars were commercially available by the 1950s.

You may be able to find books about the history of electric guitars, like “The Electric Guitar: A History of an American Icon” edited by Andre Millard (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004) or “Amplified: A Design History of the Electric Guitar” by Paul Atkinson (Reaktion Books, 2021) at your library. There are also many guitar magazines, such as Guitar World, Guitar Player, the electric guitar-focused Fretboard Journal, and the previously mentioned Vintage Guitar, which may contain helpful information. So might magazines for electronics hobbyists, like Nuts and Volts.

You may also want to consider collectors’ clubs for vintage electric appliances, such as radios. They often repair what they collect and may be familiar with hand-built electric devices.

Q: I inherited two porcelain lamps shaped like Victorian ladies with curly hair and very fancy lace trim on their caps, collars, and sleeves. Can you tell me what they are? I don’t see any markings on them. The bottom has felt-like material. If I peel it off, would there be a mark or year on the base or porcelain?

A: Electric lamps with bases shaped like human figures were popular in the mid-20th century. Many ceramics companies at the time produced lamps with figural bases, but occasionally, older porcelain figurines were repurposed as lamp bases. There are, of course, many porcelain companies that made figurines in Victorian dress, but the lace trim sounds characteristic of Dresden porcelain.

Dresden porcelain refers to pieces made in Dresden, Germany, since the early 1700s. Blanks were purchased from other porcelain factories and decorated in Dresden. Their famous lacy trim was made by dipping real lace in thin porcelain slip. Some pieces have a mark that includes the word “Dresden,” but many are unmarked. Dresden-style figurines have been produced in other countries as well; for example, there are “Irish Dresden” pieces, which were made from the 1960s to the 2000s. They are marked “Made in Ireland.”

You may want to contact an antique dealer or lamp repair specialist in your area to determine if your lamps were converted from earlier figurines. If they are, it may be worth removing the bottom to look for a mark.

TIP: Don’t use ammonia on glasses with gold or silver decorations.

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