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LLADRÓ
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   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.

Nalda:
Not to Be Confused with Nadal

Yes, you read that right! In one of the Lladró company's own books, The Magic World of Porcelain (Barcelona, Spain: Salvat Editores,SA, 1989: p. 24), the Lladró brothers are said to have worked for a company named "Nalda." For a long time, I was convinced this must have been a typographical error misrendering the brand name "Nadal," a theory that was reinforced for me when I looked at the style of the Nadal figurines (see Nadal page this site) and noted how very close it is to the Lladró style.

Subsequently, alert collector Teresa Schmitt discovered that there really was a separate porcelain-producing company with the name "Nalda." She referred me to the Nalda web site, which, at that time, was entirely in Spanish; some company information in this article is taken from my translation of information on that earlier web site. (As of 2023, this website is no longer in existence and it is uncertain whether the company is still in business. In any case, it has long since ceased producing figurines and in its later years was dedicated to producing porcelain insulators.)

In 2023, I've been contacted by Dr. Antonio Ten Ros, who has a number of Nalda porcelain figurines in his collection and who has a web site devoted to Nalda and other Valencian porcelains. I'm grateful to Dr. Ten Ros for this newest information and highly recommend this informative web site by someone who has studied several Valencian porcelains in depth. There, you can view several models of early Nalda figurine models.

A Brief History of the Brand

Around 1947, the Nalda company had made a foray into decorative porcelain figurine production, which it ceased around 1971 in order to return to its original mission of commercial porcelain production. This chronology is consistent with the years (early 1940s) that, according to the Lladró source mentioned above, the teen-aged Lladró brothers would have worked for a company named "Nalda." According to the youngest of the founding brothers,* Vicente Lladró, in his book Así Lo Viví y Así lo Cuento; Memorias [That's How I Lived It and That's How I Tell It; Memories], he was the first of the brothers to work at Nalda when he was just 14. He was later joined in 1949 by Juan after Juan finished his military service and then by Jose. The brothers left Nalda to strike out on their own porcelain-making in early 1953.

At left, a Nalda Horses model. (Photo by Dr. Antonio Ten Ros. See his web site noted above for many more photos of Nalda models.) At right, one of several Nalda figurines that were produced in an abstract style.

There are very few Nalda figurines found on today's secondary market, making them difficult to price. For me, Nalda is of interest for the connection this company had to the early work history of the young Lladró brothers.

* In their old age, there was a kind of falling out between the founding brothers related to disagreements about how to run the company while the family, which now included a second generation, still owned it. (The company was sold in 2017.) Vicente, for instance, thought the price points on later-issued Lladró were too high. José was the first to write a book about the history of the company. That book has been published in English as well as Spanish (English title: Passenger of Life; Memories and Opinions of An Entrepreneur). The tensions between the brothers later in life are evident in that book, to which the title of Vicente's book, which I haven't found translated into English, appears to have been a response. Dating in the two books for when the brothers joined the Nalda company differs (for example, as to who joined it first) but the time span given here is roughly accurate.

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 brands 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