Q: My wife's aunt gave her this serving dish around 1940. It's possible her father brought this back from London when he was serving in the U.S. Army. This mark is on the bottom.

A: This mark was used by Oscar and Edgar Gutherz of Altrolau, Bohemia (now Stara Role, Czech Republic) from 1899 to 1918. Oscar Gutherz and Maximilian Marx had started a porcelain decorating business in Altrolau in 1884 with financial backing from Lazarus Straus & Sons, an American importer. Later the company began making porcelain. In 1898 Oscar's brother, Edgar Gutherz, bought out Marx and joined Oscar in the business, which became known as the Oscar & Edgar Gutherz (O. & E.G.) Royal Austria factory. The factory exported decorated and undecorated porcelain. Many of the undecorated pieces were purchased by amateur painters in the United States. In 1918 the factory became part of OEPIAG, the Austrian Porcelain Industry.