Friedrich Egermann (1777–1864) was a painter on glass who founded a small workshop in Blottendorf, near Haida, in northern Bohemia in 1800. Aided by the chemist W. Hiecke, Egermann experimented extensively with various raw materials and compositions in order to find new methods of decorating glass. He invented an agate glass in 1809, a marbled glass in 1819, Lithyalin glass in 1829, and his own copper ruby glass in 1832. (Lithyalin, Egermann’s most widely recognized invention, is an opaque glass with a marbled surface that resembles semiprecious stones.) With these successes, Egermann was able to employ more glass painters and to establish an engraving shop, and he became one of Bohemia’s most famous glass decorators. Although he had varied interests and many talents, it seems unlikely that Egermann himself engraved the skillfully executed pieces that are signed with his name. Instead, he probably subcontracted that work to other engravers. His signature is therefore his company’s trademark rather than his personal mark. This large and finely engraved covered goblet was presented to Thaddaeus Krisch, a court adviser in Zwickau, Saxony, in 1849. The style of the decoration and the wording of the inscription suggest that Krisch received this elaborate gift in acknowledgment of services he had provided. Inscribed “Sr. Hoch und Wohlgeboren dem Herrn Herrn Thaddaeus Krisch k.k. Hofrath u. Oberdirektor der k.k.Fondsherrschaften.” For more on Egermann, see Carolus Hartmann, Das Glas im Raum Haida und Steinschönau, Bad Bayersoien: Art Glass Publisher, 2004, pp. 229–230; and Rudolf von Strasser and Walter Spiegl, Dekoriertes Glas: Renaissance bis Biedermeier, Munich: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1989, pp. 136, 146, and 150– 152, and cat. nos. 305, 314, 320, 322, and 323.