Lladro is a company specializing in beautiful porcelain figurines celebrating life. These figurines are made in Spain and are known for their smooth finishes and gentle, soft colors. The figures are often seen in collections and they encompass a variety of themes, including bridal, religion men, women, children, fantasy, and animals, including dogs.
Lladro dogs are very popular with collectors. The pieces have a wonderful, tasteful look and look quite impressive in groups as well as when standing alone. Lladro porcelain is known the world over and is quite revered for its quality. The Lladro dogs are well known collectors items and many breeds can be found. Some of the popular breeds are the golden retriever, the chihuahua and maltese. Not only can specific breeds be collected, many people choose to build a general dog collection. They love the whimsical, sweet poses, that are found in designs like "New Friend," "Take Me Home" or "Gentle Surprise." Dogs with people are a popular theme as well. Well loved examples of this would be "A Warm Welcome" and "My Loyal Friend." The new dogs range in price from around $130 upwards to $1000 and more. I am showing off a few of the popular figurines here, but you can follow this link to see many more Lladro dogs
Lladro pieces range in size from small to rather large, a single, small dog like the chihuahua is 2.75 x 2.5 inches while a larger figure, like "A Warm Welcome" is around 10.5 x 7.25 inches. Serious collectors of Lladro dogs often devote special display areas just for showing off their collections.
A Lladro figurine is quite desirable and the dogs are a wonderful addition to any dog lover's home. Whether a single figure is sought, or a serious collection is being built, this can be a valuable and worthwhile collection to build. Retired Lladro figures are available, but they can be much more difficult to find. As you might expect, the prices are sometimes much higher, but so is the value. The dogs can be found from the 1950's when Lladro began up through more current but retired pieces from recent years. Again, these prices have a broad range from a 1991 Beagle Puppy for around $300 to a glazed poodle from 1966 for around $2900.
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When collecting, it is smart to check the authenticity of a Lladro figurine and one way to do so is to look for the logotype engraved on the base. Each piece will have it, if it is a true Lladro. A local retailer can also help authenticate a piece. If buying retired Lladro, it is also a good idea to check with an authorized retailer for finding current values. Although you can find values listed in a book, a good way to gauge the current market price is to check sites like eBay. There can often be quite a difference between what a book says and the price that gets paid online. The good news for buyers is that often, the final selling price on eBay is less than the price books recommend.
Lladro porcelain makes a wonderful gift, whether starting a loved one's collection or adding to it. It also makes for lovely personal collections and figures like the a Lladro dog will only bring joy to the collector.
