As a buyer of primitives in old paint on Ebay you don't want to be stuck with any fakes. After 30 years in the antiques business i know first hand the sting of having bought a reproduction or a nice old box with fake paint. But perhaps this is the price of my education? Certainly getting stung a few times causes me to scrutinize everything i look at and yet any one of us can get fooled at any time. I buy my things locally here in Maine and i ask around......talk to dealers and auctioneers....wanting to know who consigned, etc. You eventually get a pretty good feeling about things.

A black light could help, certainly. But if the entire item is covered in the fake paint, how will it show up? I am not sure.I'm not used to using a black light.  I would have to buy one of the fakes and check it out with the light but i really don't want to buy a fake for any purpose. 

The standard test is to look very carefully at any old age cracks or chips and if there is paint in it, this is a red flag. But perhaps it is overpaint....nice old overpaint and then it is possible to have paint in these cracks. I have been told that when the fake paint is applied, there is a substance that is put on cracks and chips so the paint does not penetrate these areas. The paint can be treated so it will chip and peel just like good old paint. It's a nice old box but is the paint really old? As you look, be suspicious to a degree. 

I would ask yourself, how often does the seller sell pantry boxes? Does it seem like more often than could be real?  I know some of the fake paint is VERY WELL DONE. Another scrutinizing ploy would be to track items being bid on by the seller......it could be passed off to another seller to make the item seem "fresh" and they might shill it. Are the two from the same state? 

I used to enjoy finding great pantry boxes and firkins with nice old paint but since the 'FABULOUS' fake painted ones have appeared on the market in such quantities, the prices i can ask for the genuine items have fallen. Imagine how rare they used to be?  Years ago it was very difficult to find them and when you saw one, you had to pay the huge price. Today i only buy the ones whose paint simply reeks of age with plenty of imperfections.

I know......if it looks good, feels good....and it's what you want....do you care? You paid a price commensurate with the real thing....you should care. It is fraud and there are laws about it but when push comes to shove, who is going to prove things? You would have to see the paint being applied? 

I suggest buying a black light and getting used to how it works. Know your seller and how often these the same items, same colors appear. Does it have a "greasy" look? Some of the ones i have seen here in Maine that are old boxes with well done FAKE paint look oily. Good old boxes, perhaps a pantry box, firkin or a nice dovetailed box..... but with newly applied paint, looking VERY good? Does it seem too good to be true?