Painted Freehand
A stencil makes every piece the same. A brush makes every piece different. Only one of those is worth paying for.
The test
Hold two pieces of the same design side by side. If the line weight is identical, if the flowers land in the same place to the millimetre, if the colour stops at exactly the same point — it was stencilled, transferred, or printed.
Freehand work fails that test on purpose. The line thickens where the brush loaded, thins where it lifted. The petal on one piece sits a few millimetres from where it sits on the next. The maker's hand is legible.
How it is done in Canchesda
The piece is thrown and dried. The bee is raised in relief by hand before the first firing — added clay, worked wet, not moulded. After the bisque, the painter works straight onto the surface with a loaded brush. No pencil guide, no transfer paper, no template.
Then the glaze, then the second firing. Two firings, one hand, no undo.
Why this is the authenticity test
Search for hand-painted Mexican ceramic and you will also find stencils for sale — kits to produce the look without the hand. The look is reproducible. The variance is not.
This is the same role that a graded number plays in Manuka honey: something verifiable, that a buyer can check themselves, that a copy cannot fake.
Compare two Fantina vessels. They will not match. That is the proof.