How do I know if what I have is an original painting?
Original Paintings:
This is a tricky question to answer. Almost all of Pang Tseng Ying’s original watercolors are painted on rice paper and include his Chinese signature with/without a stamp somewhere on the painting. Many times the painting will be on a thin sheet of rice paper mounted directly onto a thicker stock. People familiar with various prints and paintings may be able to distinguish between the two based on the visual texture of the surface. Most prints use a smoother, thicker, and more uniformly textured paper than the rice paper used in the originals. But some of the prints were done on rice paper.
Reproductions (Prints, Silkscreens, and Lithographs):
If there is a title/description on the bottom or back of the work, or if it is part of a numbered series (ie. “AP 47/150″ written on the work), or if there is a english signature, then what you have is a reproduction. Signed prints will always have the his english signature at the bottom of the work.