You may want to start with a Google of "leyden jar" which I think is what you are after with the aluminum foil strips.
As to a HV probe you could duplicate
something like this. They say 6 KV but it is a 1000:1 probe and the circuit is in the manual linked. Like most it is designed to work into a 10 MΩ input impedance meter.
I know the deal with experiments gone amuck. Loved the story of the CRT and foil. The classic of everything worked good right till.....
Ron