Date: 6th Nov. 2010 A Lladro cat figurines are always popular. First a bit about Lladró, which actually has an accent over the “o”. It is a Spanish company that was formed in 1953 by three brothers, Juan, José and Vicente Lladró in their own home in Almàssera (Valencia):
They used a “Moorish furnace” that they built at their home. At the time they were working in a tile and crockery factory so this was a means to express their interest in this form of art/porcelain. Five years later the three decided to work for themselves and they set up the business in Tavernes Blanques, a nearby town. This allowed them to expand.
The picture of the three Lladró brothers above is published under fair use1.
An interesting observation is that on the Lladró website they have only three cat figurines and many more dogs than cats. Perhaps they prefer dogs to cats – who knows! Update 2022: There are plenty of cats. Here is one at £1340.
A piece that I like is not on the carousel above (removed 2022). It is a paperweight in black or a dark charcoal color. It is called: Courageous (Paperweight) Lladro and sells for $185 in the United States. The featured cat is one of the big cats. In fact, is probably an amalgam or composite of more than one big cat but looks most like a leopard or jaguar. I would go for the jaguar which lives in South America giving it a Spanish connection.
The image and text below are a link to the Amazon.com website. It does not seem to be available on the Amazon.co.uk website by the way. It is a really nice Lladro cat figurine and useful too. I should imagine that it is nice to handle. It was designed by Juan Ignacio Aliena and created in 2007 and is in matte porcelain. Its size is 4¾ inches.
Lladro porcelain is created with a single firing, apparently, and the ingredients of the porcelain are kept secret2.
Note:
1. Fair use argued on the basis that the photo is small and its use enhances the Lladro business rather than takes from it and that monies raised on this site are for the benefit of cats welfare – i.e. it is non-profit and substantially for charitable purposes. It is also educational.
2. Wikipedia®
