How can I tell if a plate is hand painted? Display plates or china with hand painted decorations should not be completely identical. Beautiful, exquisite and unique ceramic plates make great gifts and lovely...
Beautiful, exquisite and unique ceramic plates make great gifts and lovely decorations for the home. Many people appreciate the extra time and effort that make a handmade gift so special, even if the giver of item did not specifically design or create it.
Both thoughtful and sentimental, handmade plates may carry a gorgeous and intricate design, a special saying, prayer or proverb or another special scene. According to Cheryl Lyons, the 10-year president of LDA Creations, Inc., ceramic plates that are not hand-painted tend to be quite rare.
"You can see a fair amount of hand-painting still going on today. It's not done so much in the United States as it is overseas," she says. "Around the turn of the century 100 years ago, china painting was a popular hobby like scrapbooking is today."
Lyons adds, "There were lots of china painters then, and there are still a few left even today. They will do very beautiful hand-painted pieces, particularly those that are fired a number of times in a kiln to give depth of color."
For beautiful, hand-painted decorative plates, you won't always have to search far and wide. Some local gift stores may carry hand-painted wares - just ask the merchant if she has any hand-painted items available. Sometimes it may be difficult to tell if a plate is hand-painted or not, but with a little bit of close examination, you should be able to figure it out.
"Occasionally, even I will run into one that's tough to see for certain," Ms. Lyons admits. "The simplest way to tell, assuming there is more than one plate to compare two supposedly identical plates, is to see if they are truly identical in terms of every brush stroke."
She explains, "If one plate matches the next plate, it is not hand-painted. If there are slight nuances of difference, you may have a very skilled painter who can repeat the design well, but it's not going to be absolutely identical."
This rule of thumb holds truth in many cases when it comes to determining whether something is hand-painted or handmade. As Ms. Lyons says, if you can find those subtle differences, you've found a hand-painted item.
In summary, one can distinguish a hand-painted plate from a plate that is not hand-painted by taking the following steps:
- Compare two decorative plates that seem to be identical. Look for subtle differences in the pattern or scene, examine each brush stroke closely and determine if the plates are complete identical or if very tiny differences exist.
- Buy your special plates from a craftsman who advertises that his or her ceramic plates are hand-painted. Hand-painted wares often have an advantage in quality and demand as opposed to mass-produced items. You should be able to find some crafters who specialize in hand-painted plates with the help of a simple online search.
- To get in on the creative fun, consider taking a pottery class. You can learn all about ceramic and porcelain plates, and you can even design your own for yourself or as gifts for others. If you've painted the plate yourself, you'll know for sure just how hand-painted it is!
