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Paint Job (Pro)

Warning: The following text is very direct and may offend those of a squeamish disposition.

Looking at ceramic or porcelain items, you will notice that many have been touched up or completely repainted by hobbyists or decoration studios. While the latter often delivered quality work, this is not always to be expected. As with the manufacturers, there were good and bad studios, and even the good ones may have had a really bad day. On the other hand, there are indeed some exceptional examples of hobbyist work; even cases where a former hobbyist was later employed by a factory because of his exceptional talent. In most cases, however, these hobby items are exactly what you would expect: poorly executed efforts with wavy lines, crooked decoration, poor gilding or odd colour combinations.

Whichever result you see, remember that many of these items - especially those decorated by hobbyists - are unique, but in a bad way. That means : no additional items, no replacements, nothing. Also, any form of studio or hobbyist alteration nullifies the provenance of an item; the typical "who made it and when?" questions become completely irrelevant simply because the item in question is no longer original. Even studio-altered items rarely manage to gain additional value due to the collectibility or reputation of the studio (e.g. US Pickard or German Josef Kuba).

Think of it like this: you buy a brand new Porsche and have your neighbour give it a nice coat of polyurethane paint. He might even do a good job. But what happens to the value of your Porsche? Since neither you nor your neighbour are Keith Haring, Dali, or Picasso, you have just ruined a very expensive car. So what makes you think that slapping some paint on a beautiful piece of Haviland or Meissen will maintain or even increase its value? And what could that mean for mass-produced items like Winterling or Rosenthal, or completely unmarked (no-name) blanks? Well, they become absolutely worthless, of course.

While studio-decorated items may sometimes retain a fraction of the original item's "value" or have a very small chance of actually increasing in value (depending on who actually (re)decorated it), hobby-decorated items almost always only have sentimental value, e.g. if it's an item decorated by a (former) family member. Sure, someone might offer you a dollar or two because they like the colour, shape or something similar. But other than that, there is nothing to be done with it; let it gather dust on a shelf or incorporate it into your own craft projects.

P.S.: I was amused to see that some items decorated by hobbyists are listed on Replacements-dot-com under the name of the original manufacturer, clearly showing that their "experts" have absolutely no idea what they are dealing with. Again, these items are no longer original, nor are they expandable or replaceable in any way. I know Replacements-dot-com's motto is "Replacing the irreplaceable", but offering repainted hobbyist rubbish as manufacturer branded goods is a far cry. I don't think I need to say any more.



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