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For those interested in glass figurines, Fenton Art Glass Beasts, Birds & Butterflies
is another of Peggy's books!
Also for those interested in glass, Fenton Art Glass Fairy Lamps & Lights
is Peggy's latest book! It focuses on small, candle-lit "lamps" that were first used in the
Victorian era to light dark hallways before the invention of gaslight or electricity.
The publisher for these Fenton books has gone out of business, but I am pursuing
other publishing options for revised and expanded editions. Stay tuned! In the
meantime, you may still find advance-ordered and used copies of these and my earlier
Lladró books at online booksellers.
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Cobalt/Impressed "Made in Spain"
Mark
(No Brand Attribution) ~ A Mystery Solved?
For years, collectors have encountered models
marked "Made in Spain"
in block letters in a cobalt blue stamp very close to (if not the
same as) the blue used in the Lladró backstamp but without a brand name or
manufacturer's attribution. Collectors have also brought to my attention
other non-attributed items
but with the Made in Span mark impressed into the porcelain rather than
backstamped in cobalt blue.
This small model of dog and bone has many stylistic
affinities with the rudimentarily modeled "Dog & Snail" #L07l that has been found
with both incised NAO and incised Lladró marks (see
NAO catalog page #L071).
The one pictured here is marked as in photo at bottom, "Made in Spain."
The primitive modeling would be difficult to
ascribe to Lladró were it not that the modeling on the known L071 isn't much
finer! (Photos courtesy of Teresa K. Schmitt.)
As I note in my book Collecting Lladró (ordering info
on the left banner), these Made in Spain stamps are often found on
relatively high quality models that I have always felt are too well done to be the typical
product of any of a number of small, competing companies working "in the
Lladró style" in the Valencian region of Spain. My own suspicion was
that at least some of these unattributed models have
some connection or other to Lladró itself - either as older models
marked before Lladró began "branding" its products or, perhaps, as a way to offload
items produced by Lladró/NAO sculptors or sculptors in
training when these models may have been deemed too good for destruction but perhaps
not yet ready for the laurel of a Lladró brand name.
Shortly after I first started collecting Lladró, I bought
this large (just over 12" in length) Borzoi dog grouping in an antique
shop for $150. I felt then that the modeling quality, right
down to the dogs' teeth and tongues, is too good to be
anything but Lladró. But it's simply marked "Made in Spain"
in a cobalt blue stamp. My value estimate is based on what I'd be willing to
sell it for were I in a selling mood (which I'm not!), and I wouldn't take less than
$350 for it. (Photo by the author.)
It has recently been
discovered that the earliest
Rosal pieces had paper
brand labels that easily became detached over time, and that provides another
possible explanation for at least some of the items with the impressed
country attribution, an early form of marking that would be about the vintage of the Rosal
brand.
Recently, collector Christine Russell sent me a picture of her "Made
in Spain" no-brand item. Check out that face: Could she be anything other than
a Lladró? (In my experience, the faces always tell and are the one
thing on a human-image Lladró that is inimitable by
competitors.)
Check out this girl with geese and her apron full of eggs.
Could the girl's face be anything other than a Lladró? The item has an
impressed mark identifying it as "Made in Spain" but is otherwise
unattributed. (Photos courtesy of Christine Russell.)
At Last - A New Lladró Book!
The Lladró Guide; A Collector's Reference to Retired Porcelain Figurines in Lladró Brands
My most recent Lladró book has revised and expanded content and
remains the only book in print on this topic that isn't just a catalog. Covers all Lladró and
Lladró-affiliated brands (regular collection, NAO, Zaphir, Golden Memories,
Hispania, Rosal, and Tang) and tells how to distinguish them from imitations and counterfeits.
Includes revised and expanded content, including
many new photos and a new chapter on future directions for collectors and the company now that it has
passed from family hands. The book is in hard cover, which eliminates
that annoying curl-up that happens with paperback books.You can order the book directly from the publisher, Schiffer Books,
on Amazon,
or from your favorite bookstore using the ISBN 13 number 978-0764358395.
Warning: If you're looking for a catalog
of every retired figurine Lladró ever made, this is not the book for you. If you're looking for beautiful, full-color photos of
representative models and more in-depth and well-researched
information about Lladró and its history and production than you can get in thumbnail photos with captions,
this book is what you're looking for.
Retail Price in Hardcover: $45
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