HQ 957896: Classification of Hand Painted Wall Plaques

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 957896

                          March 1, 1996

CLA-2 RR:TC:FC 957896K

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 6809.90.0000

Mr. David R. Fraser
TAB Initiatives
4118 Barnwell
Houston, Texas 77082

RE: Classification of Hand Painted Wall Plaques

Dear Sir:

     In your letters of February 22 and April 4, 1995, you
requested a binding ruling as to the classification of hand painted
wall plaques produced by the Friar Crafts of Colchester, England. 
A photograph was submitted depicting two painted scenes with a
description of the process to produced the art work.  Our decision
follows.
     
FACTS:  

     The photograph depicts two painted village scenes that are
framed for wall hanging.  A detailed carving of a scene is made
from soft modeling material similar to plasticine (defined as a
trademark for an oil-base modeling paste, used as a substitute for
clay or wax).  The scene may be selected from a photograph or a
postcard. It takes approximately 5 to 15 weeks to make the carving. 
A silicone rubber mould is made and when set, it is removed from
the carving, cleaned, and ready for use.  The mould is then used to
produce a large number of castings in a high density, fine grain
size plaster.  Each casting is then hand painted using up to 20
different color mixes. 

     Classification is sought under subheading 9701.10.0000,
Harmonized Tariff of the United States (HTSUS), as paintings
executed entirely by hand.

ISSUE: 

     The issue is whether the paintings are executed entirely by
hand.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:  

     Subheading 9701.10.0000, HTSUS, provides for paintings,
executed entirely by hand, other than hand-painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles, with a free rate of duty. 
     
     The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System, which represent the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate
classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in
understanding the scope of the headings and General Rules of
Interpretation of the HTSUS.  The EN for subheading 9701.10.0000,
HTSUS, state, in part, as follows.

     As these works must be executed entirely by hand, articles
     obtained wholly or partly by any other process are excluded,
     for example, paintings, whether or not on canvas, obtained by
     photomechanical processes; paintings executed by hand on an
     outline or on a drawing obtained by ordinary engraving or
     printing processes; so-called "authentic copies' of paintings,
     obtained by means of a number of masks or stencils, even if
     these copies are certified authentic by the artist.

     However, copies of paintings remain in this group irrespective
     of their artistic value, if they are executed entirely by
     hand.
     
     A large number of plaster castings are made from a mould which
contain the outline of a scene that is then hand painted with
artistic skill.  The process is similar to the exclusions described
in the EN such as a painting executed by hand on an outline or on a
drawing obtained by ordinary engraving or printing processes.  We
conclude that the paintings as described are not executed entirely
by hand.

     Subheading 9701.90.0000, HTSUS, provides for collages and
similar decorative plaques, with a free rate of duty.  Webster's
New World Dictionary of American English (Third College Edition)
1988, at page 273, defines the term "collage" as an "art form in
which bits of objects such as newspaper, cloth, pressed flowers,
etc., are pasted together on a surface in incongruous relationship
for their symbolic or suggestive effect." This definition is
similar to the EN for subheading 9701.90.000, HTSUS, which state,
in part, as follows.

     (B) COLLAGES AND SIMILAR DECORATIVE PLAQUES

     This group covers collages and similar decorative plaques,
     consisting of bits and pieces of various animal, vegetable or
     other materials, assembled so as to form a picture or
     decorative design or motif and glued or otherwise mounted on a
     backing, e.g., of wood, paper or textile material. The backing
     may be plain or it may be hand-painted or imprinted with
     decorative or pictorial elements which form part of the
     overall design. Collages range in quality from articles
     cheaply produced in quantity for sale as souvenirs up to
     products which require a high degree of craftsmanship and
     which may be genuine works of art.

     For the purpose of this group, the term "similar decorative
     plaques" does not include articles consisting of a single
     piece of material, even if mounted or glued on a backing,
     which are more specifically covered by other headings of the
     Nomenclature such as "ornaments" of plastics, of wood, of base
     metal, etc. Such articles are classified in their appropriate
     headings (headings 44.20, 83.06, etc.) (Emphasis added.)

     The articles in question, do not meet the criteria for
collages as outlined above, and does not meet the term "similar
decorative plaques" since the paintings are on single pieces of
plaster material. 

     We conclude that the articles as described are painted on
plaster castings made from moulds, not executed entirely by hand
and are, therefore, not classified in Heading 9701, HTSUS.

HOLDING:  

     Detailed village scenes on plaster castings made from moulds
that are then hand painted, are classified as other (ornamental)
articles of plaster, in subheading 6809.90.00, HTSUS, with a 1996
rate of duty of 3 percent ad valorem.

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Tariff Classification 
                              Appeals Division