MANILA, Philippines - Lifelike, lush and painstakingly laborious, each Lladró piece stands as a testament to fine-quality craftsmanship. While the Dutch have their Delft blue, or the Germans have their Meissen, for over 60 years, Lladró have built a primera casa synonymous to Spanish porcelain.
“Porcelain has been created by the Chinese many centuries ago. The first European developments of porcelain came with the Germans. But I think, in terms of treating porcelain, Lladró is very unique,” enthused Lladró’s Asia Pacific business development manager Byoung-No Ha. Perhaps this is why the Filipinos have developed an affinity for the Valencian brand known for its equally imperial and oriental nature. During its heyday in the early ‘60s, up until now, no stately Filipino home would be complete sans a Lladró centerpiece.
And yet, while newer brands may lay claim to artisanal production techniques, Lladró is one that stays true to its traditional, handcrafted methods, harnessed by years of perfecting porcelain. “The way we look at and treat porcelain is one of the most prominent things that Lladró differentiates from other brands,” shared No Ha.
In better showcasing this essential eye for detail and the master craftwork that becomes the soul of each handmade Lladró piece, one of the house’s commissioned artists Amparo Martinez Lopez visited Manila to demonstrate the meticulous work of hand-painting these objets d’art.
“Every painter has different skills and techniques, but we have to always comply with the way the chemical reacts with porcelain, because, obviously, we want all the pieces to look the same,” Lopez explained.
Lopez’s proficient grasp for porcelain painting is credited to her four decades with the house. Starting with the brand as early as 14 years old, she now serves as primary in charge of Lladró’s Professional Training School’s decorating and glazing department, where the next generations of Lladró’s décor artisans are being molded to its well-refined standards.
“Usually, the artist who wants to come in Lladró will have to pass a test, and then they have to be trained with Lladró’s long tradition. There are a lot of different sections in the Lladró painting department. The way it works is those artists come very early in the Lladró factories to learn. Depending on their skills, we decide if they would either paint or do other skills, like flower painting,” Lopez added.
Like the institution of tutelage and apprenticeship that was alive and well during the Renaissance, Lladró’s early enrichment of its artists not only empowers them with the fine skill of painting, but also equips them with the patience that should come with working on porcelain, creating a seamless passing on of the Lladró process. A Lladró porcelain vase may take at least a week to complete while a sculpture can take up to three months, depending on its scale and intricateness, such that an expert should be adept in method and virtue.
And much more complex than the traditional oils, acrylics or watercolors of the fine art masters, Lladró’s painting process is the stuff of legends. “The colors are made by a solution. We have to paint in a way that they would be absorbed by the piece,” shared Lopez. Referring to the verdant “Flamenco Flair” sculpture by Jose Javier Malavia, she noted, “All the different colors, like the green of the dress, or the blacks of the hair, are painted on relief. We use natural elements as well, like earth, which goes into the solution of colors. The other natural, fainter colors have to stay on top.”
When referring to Malavia’s limited-edition Red Matador, however, which features different scales of crimson from its well-detailed jacket to its flowing cape, Lopez revealed, “Sometimes, the red is very difficult to get, so we put gold into the mix to get a more vibrant color during firing. Each red that you see has a different way of applying paint.”
This inherent complexity of Lladró’s painting and glazing processes transcend customary knowledge, since modern porcelain craftwork requires plenty of technological advancements as well, despite all being made by hand. “Painting is an on-going learning. The palettes of colors and the techniques of painting have evolved very much throughout the years. We have a research and development section that develops color solutions and paint chemicals. In terms of painting, we always bring innovations. The use of enamels in the ‘60s, for instance, was one of the biggest innovations by the brand,” shared Lopez.
Yet, despite these key developments for the 60-year-old brand, two things remain the same since: One is the radiant white hard paste porcelain and the brilliant glazing the brand uses, and the other is its rather purist approach in treating them.
“We do a single-firing technique, which means that throughout the handmade creative process, we put it in the kiln only once. We have perfected this technique and obviously this requires a lot of years of research and trials. When it comes out of the fire, either it is perfect or we don’t bring it out,” said No Ha.
But alongside the Lladró’s pride of tradition are a few obstacles. While our mothers may swoon over the exquisitely ornate La Menina, their daughters may find their personal porcelain predilections lost along the way. “It’s always the biggest challenge for a brand like us, which has a heritage of history, to be able to evolve and answer to the newer generations of markets. The Philippines have a very close relationship with Spain, so maybe it comes more naturally. But globally, we try to be a universal brand,” revealed No Ha.
“We have a lot of cultural collections, of different Asian cultures, for instance,” No Ha added. Capturing the rising continental market, Islamic motifs like the Hand of Fatima, Hindu statuettes like the Goddess Lakshmi, or swooping Great Dragons off Lladró’s High Porcelain collection aptly addresses the Eastern tastes.
“And in terms of capturing the younger generations, we really try to do a lot more functional, modern, contemporary and edgy collections,” enthused No Ha. With designer selections from The Guest by Lladró Atelier translating the brand into the fresh and the new through creative collaborations with street artists Jaime Hayon, Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, Rolitoland, and Japanese art collective Devilrobot, it is now easier to envision a future filled with Lladró fineries. While practical porcelain pieces like lamps and chandeliers are featured at the Belle de Nuit Collection, as salt and pepper shakers and candelabras adorn the Le Art de la Table collection, making the revered masterpieces fully functional pieces. And a recent creative partnership with British knighted designer Paul Smith may just take the high art of porcelain into the grounds of high fashion.
“We’re in the business of emotions. Some people tell us that when they look at the pieces, they match their moods. And I think our vision is to keep our heritage. The fact that everything is still made in Valencia, Spain, is very important for us. At the same time, we still have to answer to the challenges of the new generation. So we want to make it universal while keeping a personal message,” explained No Ha.
So whether it’s revisiting its gilded, glossy traditions or having that glinting glimpse of the future in the fine art of handcrafted porcelain, for all its 60 years, Lladró had never seemed to lose its luxurious touch.
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Lladró’s fine-crafted porcelain is available at the Rustan’s Department Store.