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Items Known to Have Been Produced under Both Marks:
Lladró and/or NAO
- © Peggy Whiteneck
However the evolution came about, there is growing evidence of an
intimate historical connection between items marked with the Lladró
name and those marked with the name NAO. (In fact, I've recently
discovered, through authorized sources at company offices in Spain,
that some of the most famous and esteemed of the core collection sculptors
also sculpted the NAO models.)
 One of a set of five
Art-Deco-style doves that can occasionally be found with Lladró marks.
These models actually went into distribution as NAO production #s59 through 63.
Individual NAO models in the series were variously retired between the
years 1984 and 1991. The very recent discovery of such "cloning" has
called into question older pricing on the Lladró marked models, as these
pricing strategies were established before anyone knew that such items
had gone into production in the NAO line. (Photo by the author from her own collection.)
Not surprisingly, then, a number of models have been found to have
identical examples produced in both brands. (In one case, both marks were
found on the same item!) In some cases, regular collection marked items
went into actual production and cataloguing as NAO; in other cases, NAO-marked models
went into production and cataloguing as regular collection pieces.
In at least one case (the items
in the famous "Kids in Nightshirts" series popularized in the core collection -
and not to be confused with an entirely different set on a similar theme that
was done in NAO in addition to the set later made in the core collection),
they were made in both lines sequentially.
A curious fact is that, on all the core collection models that
have been found to have NAO twins, Fulgencio García, who died in 1994,
is the core collection sculptor of record. I have recently discovered (through a source at the
company) that Fulgencio García - among other well-known older
core collection sculptors - was also the sculptor of record for
several of the early NAO models, including the "Goose" and "Dog" items
listed in the table below under "NAO w/Lladró marks."
I believe the implication here is pretty clear: The completely separate design
resources for the two collections that some have long insisted
were the case were evidently not the case, at least not early in the company's
history. (One would love to have been a fly on the wall to have been privy
to this early history and exactly how it evolved - and which brand name came first!)
An uncatalogued figure of a polar bear seated on an ice
floe, muzzle raised
inquisitively into the air (pictured at right), has also been found both in versions with
impressed NAO
mark and with impressed Lladró mark. I happen to have a NAO-marked version
(plus an unmarked version) of this model in my own collection and can testify to
the equisite modeling of the animal's fur and musculature. Recently, a
collector sent me a picture of the identical model and its base, which
had an impressed Rosal mark. This particular model is very similar
in style to the rare core collection polar bear numbered 328.13, also
recently found with a NAO mark. Moreover, I'd bet money that this bear
(sans ice floe) was the model for the "Crystal Bear, Head Up," #C4502,
which the famous French glass company, Daum Nancy, made in 1983 as part of
a series of models for which Lladró supplied the designs.
Incidentally,
all of the old decimal-point-numbered polar bear models from the mid 1960s
were used as models
for the frosted and clear crystal polar bears that Lladró modeled for the
famous French art glass company Daum Nancy in 1983. As it happens, so, apparently, was
the bear from the one pictured here; I'd lay money the bear pictured here was the model for the
"Frosted Crystal Bea, Nose Up," #C4502.
Then there is the curious case of "Profound Contemplation," Lladró #4556
(also made in slightly different colors as "Musical Contemplation," #4557).
Lladró often spins off individual items of groupings as separate figurines,
and that appears to have been the case here, with each of the ballerinas
(the standing and the reclining) having been made as separate figurines, usually
found with impressed marks. These separated models have also been found
with impressed NAO marks. The same process appears to have occurred with
what was catalogued as #4560, "Pensive Pierrot" in the core collection - which
happens to feature the same reclining ballerina as found in the other two
groupings, 4556 and 4557. The stand-alone pierrot with mandolin from this
4560 grouping has also been found, with old, impressed NAO marks - and, given
the history of "Profound Contemplation," is likely to be found at some
point with old, impressed Lladró mark as well.
At right, one of the separate models, never
catalogued, that were spun off from Lladró's grouping #4556,
"Profound Contemplation." Also found with impressed
NAO marks. Approximate value: $300-$350 - with either mark. At left,
single pierrot from "Pensive Pierrot" grouping (#4560), also never catalogued,
and also worth about $300-$350 with either mark.
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Finally, it should be noted that this "cloning" phenomenon extended
to the Zaphir brand as well. In addition to the Zaphir models that
were later made as NAO, a few items have been found where Lladró core
collection items were also made with Zaphir marks, and in at least two cases,
the models were, at one time or another, made in each of the three brands! Click
on the link for more on the Zaphir
clones.
Here, then, for the record, is the list (in the table below)
of models that I know to have
been made in both brand marks. I have "vetted" this list to
the extent that I include in it only items that I have actually seen
with both marks or of which I have seen photographs along with
photographs of their respective marks. There is nothing in the list that I have not confirmed to my own
satisfaction. It is likely that more examples will continue
to surface.
THE LIST OF LLADRÓ
ALSO FOUND WITH NAO MARKS
(and Vice Versa) |
Lladró w/NAO Marks
- Sm. Warrior Boot,
unkn #(1)
- Low-Top Jester's Shoe, unkn #(1)
- Cocker-Type Dog w/Snail, unkn #
- Boy w/Football, unkn#
- Rabbit Scratching, 278.12
- Rabbit Couple, 279.12
- Ostriches, 297.13
- Romantic Couple, 304.13
- Hunting Dog, 308.13G
- Rabbit Standing, 309.13
- Polar Bear, 328.13
- Boot [cowboy], 332.13
- Greek Shepherd, 342.13G
- Gr. Shepherdess, 343.13G
- Long Rabbit, 352.13
- Girl with Lamb, 4505
- Shepherd w/Goat, 4506
- Boy with Lambs, 4509
- Diana, 4514
- Boy Student, 4517
- Girl Student, 4518
- Flamenco Dancers, 4519
- Couple with Parasol, 4563
- Girl with Cockerel, 4591
- Small Floral Vase, 4710
- Girl with Lantern, 4910
- Spring Vase, 4723
- Girl with Goat, 4756
- Girl w/ Goose and Dog, 4866
- Seesaw, 4867
- Girl with Candle, 4868*
- Boy Blowing, 4869
- Boy Awakening, 4870
- Girl with Guitar, 4871
- Girl Stretching, 4872
- Girl Kissing, 4873
- The Jug Carrier, 4875
(1) A total of nine of these shoe models, in various styles, were produced, as pictured in a very early
Lladró catalog and identified there as model numbers L75 through L83. It is believed that every one of them will be found with
either incised mark (Lladró or NAO).
(2) In the core collection, this famous set of
"Kids in Nightshirts" wasn't produced until 1974.
They appear in NAO production catalogs earlier than that,
so I believe they were made and actually marketed in the NAO collection
first, then retired from production there around 1973 or 1974
before being placed into production as "core collection" items.
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NAO w/Lladró Marks
- Angel with Lyre, NAO#0014 *
- Cranes, NAO#0045
- Goose, NAO#052
- Goose, NAO#053
- Dog, NAO#0057
- Dog, NAO#0058
- Dove, NAO#0063**
- Girl with Goose, NAO#0114
- Playing in the Park, NAO#128
An example of an
uncatalogued "Dog with Snail" that can be found with either mark.
* This particular item was seen with both Lladró and
NAO marks on the same item!
** This was one of a series of 5 NAO doves, at least three of which
have been found with old Lladró marks; it is likely that all 5 will
eventually be found to have been made in both brands.
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Announcing
A Collector's Book of Retired Lladró
by Peggy Whiteneck
published by
Old Line Publishing, LLC
Hampstead, Maryland
Posted 7/18/10
Ever since its founding in the 1950s and its subsequent, stellar rise to global prominence,
collectors have been fascinated with the singular modeling and attention to detail in
Lladró Spanish porcelain figurines. Eventually, collectors discovered that Lladró
wasn't just one brand, but several. At the same time, other companies began to sprout up all
over Spain, particularly around Lladó's own region in Valencia, working
"in the Lladró style" and hoping to catch a ride on the tailwinds of its popularity.
This book is written to acquaint readers with retired figurines in all the Lladró and
Lladró-affiliated brands and to help distinguish them from the work of other Spanish
companies. The book features substantive chapters on the Lladró "core brand,"
NAO by Lladró, Zaphir, Golden Memories, Rosal, and Hispania, complete with
representative photos for each brand.
Retail Price: $29.95
Special Pre-Order Price: $26.95
S & H: $5.95
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