Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Walter Del Pellegrino, post: 309154, member: 90"]The terms Made by Hand, Hand-Made, Hand-Painted, etc, are terms that emerged after the end of World War II (1945) and found mostly on European pieces intended for export to the U.S. The term was meant to accentuate individual artistry and craftsmanship and inferred that they had a quality, and therefore a value, that mass produced items lacked. It was an advertising gimmick. Prior to World War II almost all ceramics and other items were made by hand in places like Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece and so on and there was no need to bring attention to that fact. These items were handcrafted or hand decorated by necessity. Modern machinery requires electricity and electricity was widely unavailable in these countries except for the major metropolitan cities and when it was available it was unreliable. More importantly, machinery cost lots of money, Manual labor was far cheaper. It wasn't until the end of the War that America, under the Marshall Plan, rebuilt the infrastructure of Europe and helped to modernize it. Thus your piece dates to the 1950’s[/QUOTE]