The Ebony Venetian Art-Craft vase lamp has the black paint applied to the inside and fired on before the "sand" finish and gold paint are applied to the outside of the vase by hand. The sand finish can very in color from a gray that blends into the lamp and is barely discernable, to a white color that is more pronounced. The colors however are always shades of white or light gray with no other color being used in this design. The white designs seem to be more desirable to collectors than the grayish colors that blend into the base paint. Each design is unique since it was applied by hand.