Where Can I find More Information
about Retired NAO?
This has become one of the most frequently asked questions in
the Lladró collecting world, testifying to the enduring quality of the
product despite its confusing origins. Unfortunately, you're looking at the only
thing available that deals substantively with information
about the NAO secondary market. This unmet information need among collectors
is one of the chief reasons I began this web site. I'm pleased to be able
to say that I've met my goal of posting an entire catalog of both the known NAO
and the Zaphir collections in their respective sections of this web site.
So far as I know, this is the most comprehensive catalog available.
(I don't plan to get involved in sales, so please don't ask.) I cannot
claim, however, that either catalog is complete: As with the regular Lladró
collection, everything ever produced in NAO and Zaphir was not catalogued.
Hence, you will find "unidentified items" pages in my catalogs as well.
Right, a tiny NAO angel, measuring just a couple of inches tall.
A very early issue but produced for a long time, "Angel with Lyre" is NAO #14.
(Photo by the author from her own collection.)
Left, one
of my most favorite NAO models: "Boy, Big Hat,"
NAO #182. Made in both matte and glazed versions, it's extremely well
modeled. The boy's standing in front
of a flowering cactus. Note the "rope belt," the sagging pants, and the bare
feet. (Typical little boy: all he cares about is the hat!) Although the glazed version was retired in 2001 at a last retail
price of $125, this matte example would have been retired about ten years
earlier. I wouldn't let it go for less than $200 - assuming I ever wanted
to sell it, which I don't! (Photo by the author from her own collection)
UK collector Colin Warwicker has developed a partial CD catalog
for the NAO collection. I've reviewed this CD and find it to be of high quality
and useful to collectors. Although it isn't a complete catalog, it has
the virtue of being a product which, albeit electronic, can be "held in
one's hand." (Colin sells his CD on eBay, and he can also be reached directly: hit
the "Contact Us" button below with an email requesting contact information
for Colin, and I'll be happy to share it.) So, by hook or crook, we collectors
are finally managing to respond to what has been a huge, pent-up and
previously unmet demand for specific secondary market information on the NAO models.
Collectors interested in what the company is making now can find information
(initially current issues only but now including a somewhat frustratingly incomplete
historical catalog as well) on the Official NAO web site (click on the link).
The World Collector's Net out of the UK is also a great
place to go to get information on retired NAO. (I'm the "Peggy" who frequently
posts there.) The Lladró Board on that site is actually two boards,
one for sales and one for information. You can find good information on
both boards about the core collection as well as NAO.
Now Available!
A Collector's Book of Retired Lladró
by Peggy Whiteneck
published by
Old Line Publishing, LLC
Hampstead, Maryland
Posted 9/20/10
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
S & H: $5.95
Also available
at Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com
or through any bookseller by ISBN order #13: 978-0-9845704-6-1.
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