Decals and Trim: The finishing touches

Decals are an integral part of ceramics, and on vintage pieces can provide invaluable insight into the authenticity of an item. Knowing the proper decal for your favorites can cut the risk of buying a fake. There were always "one off" pieces with rare or special decals, but buying those online is probably best left for the true expert in that particular collectible. It's just too risky and expensive to be wrong, and getting your money back from a fraudulent seller can be very hard.

Below are some facts about decals that can assist you.

Hull Red Riding Hood Items: The Poppy Decal

This popular collectible line is so often faked that it is important for us to look closely at the proper decals to help eliminate the chances of being fooled.

Little Red Riding Hood Decals

Red Riding Hood Poppy Decal
Click image for larger view

Small Floral Decals

Unusual Decal
This genuine Little Red Riding Hood jar has the famous orange poppy decals. Notice too the skirt of the jar. The "stars" are also decals. They were NEVER hand painted. Ideally, you should be familiar enough with this decal and its variants to know it instantly by sight. Another decal used on the Red Riding Hood jars was the small flower spray. This is not as common as the orange poppy, but the obvious "star" decals on the skirt can give you the clue you need to know this jar is real. A rather unusual floral decal. Normally this type of decal would be a strong warning sign of a fake, but look at the skirt. The star decals are apparent, and combined with the strong facial detail and "masking lines" of the sprayed red on the cape it is easy to confirm that this is indeed a genuine jar.
Shawnee Decals

The Shawnee Pottery company made the famous Smiley and Winnie Pig cookie jars, Puss in Boots, Jill and the Lucky elephant, among many others popular with collectors. Understanding how the company used their decals can help you avoid the fakes.

Often you will see Smiley, Lucky, Jill and others with gold trim, and their names on the piece in gold. While at first glance these names might appear to be handwritten, they are not. They are all decals. This gives the name a regularity that is almost impossible to duplicate by hand. Below is some examples of real pieces, with their fake counterparts.

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Genuine Smiley name		 Click for larger view
Fake Smiley name		 Close up of decal

This is a genuine Smiley Pig cookie jar with the name in gold on the tummy. Notice the absolute regularity of the script. This is a decal.

This is a fake Smiley Pig cookie jar. Notice the shamrocks. They are very poorly created and the color is opaque. The "Smiley" name is placed wrong, and the script is obviously hand written.

An extreme close up of the "Lucky" name on the Lucky elephant. At this level of scrutiny, it is obvious that this is a decal.