When homes were heated by burning logs in a fireplace, it was very hot within a few feet of the fire. It was very cold in the rest of the room, and water would freeze in a log cabin if kept more than 10 feet from the heat source. High-back upholstered chairs were used to keep the heat off in the 17th and 18th centuries. Fire screens of many types were used. The screen reduced the intense heat and kept the sparks from flying into the room. Most 18th-century fire screens were made of wood or wood with additional decoration of fabric or needlework, and never metal because it became so hot. By the 1860s, heating stoves were available to warm the room, and fire screens were often more decorative than useful. They were used in front of smaller fires or empty fireplaces. Some of the late 1800s screens were made of leaded and stained glass. Brass or iron was used to hold the glass. The screens must have been impressive when the fire was lit and the flames shined through the stained glass.

This fire screen was made of leaded and stained glass held in a brass frame. It is 33 inches high by 20 inches wide. It brought 48 at a Julia auction in Fairfield, Maine, last winter.

Q: Years ago, my dying uncle gave me two Hummel wall plaques he thought were valuable. Each one is a baby’s head in a 5-inch-diameter red ring. One is a girl with a green bow in her hair, and the other is a boy. On each ring there’s a bee the baby is looking at in surprise. The marks on the back include the incised number “30/0A” on the girl and “30/0B” on the boy, an incised “M.I. Hummel” and the stamped word “Germany.” I once asked a dealer at an antiques mall about them. She asked me if the rings were red, and when I said yes, she wanted to buy them. I wouldn’t sell them, but can you tell me what they’re worth?

A: Your Hummel wall plaques are called “Ba-Bee Rings,” introduced in 1935. They were modeled by Reinhold Unger, a sculptor at W. Goebel Porcelain Factory in Germany. There should be an incised superimposed “GW” mark on your rings, too. The rings were made in red for only a short time, probably before World War II, and they’re rare. A red pair could sell for more than $5,000. But an expert would have to look at yours in person, because the Ba-Bee girl in a red ring always had a blue hair ribbon, not a green one. A few Ba-Bees were glazed white and unpainted.