Identification of Decal Porcelain and Hand Painted Porcelain: A Must Read for Collectors

In porcelain production, "decal" ( 贴花 tiē huā ) is a common decorative technique. It involves attaching pre printed patterned decal paper to the porcelain surface and then firing it at high temperatures. This process greatly reduces production costs and is suitable for mass production, widely used in daily use porcelain and decorative porcelain. However, the collection value of decal porcelain is relatively low, so learning to identify decal porcelain and hand painted porcelain is crucial for collectors.

Characteristics of Decal Porcelain

• Mass Production: Decal paper is produced by specialized factories, and porcelain producers can directly purchase and use it, greatly improving production efficiency.
• Low Cost: The decal process saves labor, materials, and time, reducing production costs.
• High Pattern Consistency: The patterns of decal porcelain are usually very consistent, making it difficult to have the variations of hand painted porcelain.

How to Identify Decal Porcelain and Hand Painted Porcelain

1. Observe Decorative Pattern: The edges of decal porcelain patterns may show overlapping, misalignment, or joint gaps.
2. Check Color: Decal porcelain sometimes has missing colors, and the shades of the same color are usually consistent.
3. Compare Symmetrical Patterns: The symmetrical patterns of decal porcelain are highly consistent, while hand painted porcelain is not.
4. Observe Spherical Porcelain: Spherical porcelain with large continuous patterns, if there is no folding phenomenon, it may be hand painted.
5. Observe Blue and White Shading Technique: Porcelain using the blue and white shading technique cannot be a decal.
6. Observe Color Thickness: The pigment adhesion thickness of decal porcelain is limited, and the color depth is not easy to change.
7. Observe Color Tone: Porcelain with both decals and hand painted elements may show color tone differences in the same color.
8. Observe Decorative Patterns: Decorative patterns on the top and bottom are decals, and the main parts are hand painted, or the image is traced on the blank or porcelain with carbon paper, and then manually colored.
9. Observe Porcelain Body: The porcelain body of decal porcelain is usually rougher, except for high grade daily use porcelain.

Collection Value of Decal Porcelain

The collection value of decal porcelain is relatively low, and it should be avoided as much as possible when collecting. However, decal porcelain with historical characteristics and scarce quantities may also have certain collection value.