El Portal Porcelana

"For People Passionate About Spanish Porcelain"

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LLADRÓ
   Regular Collection
   NAO
      (NAO Catalog)
          (Retired 2004)
          (Retired 2005)
          (Retired 2006)
          (Retired 2007)
          (Retired 2008)
          (Retired 2009-10)
          (Retired 2011-12)
   Rosal
   Tang
   Zaphir
      (Zaphir Catalog)
   Golden Memories
       (GM Catalog)
   Hispania
     (Hispania Catalog)

Made in Spain
(No Brand Name)

Nadal

Other Companies
   Nalda

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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 books, along with my earlier Lladró books, at online booksellers.

Other Spanish Porcelain Companies

- Peggy Whiteneck

Although Lladró and Nadal are the best-known names in 20th century Spanish porcelain, there are many other porcelain figurine companies concentrated in the Valencian region of Spain. According to Liane McAllister, in a January 1997 article in the trade journal Gifts and Decorative Accessories ("Valencia: Spanish Ceramics Show Growing Pains And Pluses"), Lladró controls about 70% of this Valencian porcelain market, with all other companies slugging it out for the remaining 30% of market share.


This horse was made by Mirmasu, one of Lladró's many Valencian competitors. The model is quite nice on its own terms, but it takes no technical risks. Note that only one of the horse's legs is separately articulated - and its solid anchoring calls attention to the modeler's apparent reluctance to get too adventurous. (Photo by the author.)

This page is devoted to the better-known of those companies, all of which have been heavily influenced by the style popularized by Lladró - even though most have had limited success in competing with its quality. (I have long felt these companies would have been better off trying to develop a style of their own rather than settling for a poor imitation of Lladró's.)

The list posted below consists of the names of Valencian (mostly) companies that I know about. Very few of these companies export, and their products end up on the secondary market beyond Spain, particularly on eBay®, as an indirect consequence of tourist travel to and from that country. The Tengra and Galos companies used to have web sites that are no longer operative. As web site marketing proliferates and sites become easier to build, more of these companies may eventually be found on the web. On the other hand, these companies are all small enough to come into and go out of business quickly and may never have the resources to mount a Web presence. In the interim, perhaps the best way to find examples of them is to do an eBay search of their names (followed by the word "porcelain" as some of these names are fairly generic). It's also likely that at least some of the companies on the list are no longer in production.

Various Spanish Porcelain Companies
  • Tengra
  • Galos
  • Miguel Requeña
  • Rex
  • Mirmasu
  • Casades
  • Raimond
  • Porceval
  • Inglès
  • Algora
  • D'Art
  • Porregamo
  • Castilla
  • Torralba
  • Dalia
  • Jando
  • Pales
  • Segarra

More

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. Revised and expanded content includes 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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