Zaphir Porcelain:
What's It Worth?
This question is always difficult to answer because relatively little is known among the collecting
public about the Zaphir brand and its connection to Lladró. Valuation is complicated,
then, by the need to educate the secondary market about the brand itself.
Zaphir's creation by Jose Puche, a regular collection Lladró sculptor, as well as its chronlogical
precedence over
the NAO models that were later made from Zaphir models, should
logically serve to enhance Zaphir's
value over time as collectors become more familiar with it.
This model was made in two forms, the regular porcelain
finish (right, #683) and a special hybrid finish (left, #683B) consisting of
matte skin, enamel-paint clothing, and glazed rock (on which she's seated).
Both versions
were among the models that were later transferred into
NAO production when the Zaphir brand was closed. The hybrid
#683B
version was, in both brands, retired earlier than the regular porcelain version.
The regular version
was finally retired in the NAO brand in 2001 at a last retail price of $170.
Value of the regular #683 with either mark is about $200, of #683B about
$225-$250. The flowerwork in the girl's hand is unusual for the
NAO collection, where a deliberate attempt to keep the price points low
would be undercut by the added expense of flowerwork. (Photo scanned from a 1978 Zaphir retail catalog.)
At the same time (as with the NAO collection and its symbiotic
relationship to the core collection), there were several models that were
unique to Zaphir and thus not produced for any other brand or collection. This makes it a
potentially attractive brand for Lladró collectors seeking to diversify
their collections with another Lladró brand that will generally be more
affordable than comparable models in the regular Lladró
collection.
It would seem that the best
way to go about establishing values for Zaphir models is to
refer to the last retail price on the item (which I happen to know
for much of the Zaphir collection and have posted
in the Zaphir catalog on this site because I also have an original 1981 Zaphir
price list in my possession) and, beyond that, to use the
modest (at least to date) appreciation on the NAO brand as a secondary market
yardstick for Zaphir.
Click on the
catalog link on the left border graphic of this page to be brought to the
Zaphir catalog, in which I do suggest values
based on my own knowledge and expertise in the field, though others should feel
entirely free to argue with me. :o)
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