Lladró: A Valencia Legacy
An Inside Peek at Handcrafted Quality
I have been an admirer and collector of Lladró pieces for well over twenty years. Delicate figurines that have traveled with us from home to home, each holding a tranquil charm that never seems to fade. But to actually stand in the workshop where these works are born threaded together memory and exhilaration.
Join me on an invitation to visit the epicenter of Lladró - a one of a kind encounter at their Museum, Boutique, and Workshop in Tavernes Blanques, Valencia.
Hugo’s team at Hotel Palacio Vallier courteously planned for our transport. Morning light streamed through Valencia’s narrow streets, and the air carried that soft anticipation that comes before encountering something long cherished.
Fortified by Chef Alberto Sanchez’s ingenious meal at La Perfumería Palacio Vallier the evening before, which I wrote about last week. Each plate as finely balanced as a sculptor’s hand.
We arrived with a calm energy ready to absorb splendor. Sabrina, our host at the museum, radiating confidence, warmth, and passion, greeted us and dived into the Lladró heritage.
Here art becomes both tangible and poetic.
Aesthetics meet geometry in a handcrafted symbiosis of form and feeling, where exuberance and sumptuousness complement precision. Folklore whispers through certain lines, while humor and imagination shape groundbreaking designs.
Straight lines balance the fluid grace of underwater worlds, and the cubism converses with the soft elegance of porcelain. Striking colors enliven geometric forms, each concept an innovative dialogue between tradition and modernity.
It is transversal artistry, a meeting of disciplines, designed not merely for display, but for lasting visual enjoyment.
Founded in 1953 by three brothers (Juan, José, and Vicente Lladró) in the village of Almàssera. The evolution from humble home-kilned figurines into a global symbol of emotion in fine ceramics.
Seventy years of dedicated research, landmark achievements, expansion into merging markets, acclaimed exhibitions, prestigious awards, a diverse portfolio of creations, and masterful brand stewardship.
As the company passed into new skilled hands, Lladró opened its doors to designers worldwide, expanding its offerings to include translucent jewelry, décor, and illumination that produces a sculptural effect.
One such lighting marvel, which graces Palacio Vallier’s stairwell, feels like midair wonder. A kaleidoscope of the Niagara chandelier, designed by German creative Bodo Sperlein. Golden luster gilded dainty fairies cascading like a waterfall, shining upon a stream of light. It stands like a living poem in ceramic, a fitting echo of graceful artistry we were about to encounter.
We stepped into the gallery, where even the air felt hushed. Footsteps seemed amplified, and light was choreographed to graze each refined surface until it glowed like moonlight caught in form. A whisper of clay and glaze lingered in the air, grounding ethereal beauty with a soft earthiness.
Among the museum’s treasures, the diaphanous, family, and romance-themed pieces hold a special kind of magic. Whispered stories of love, connection and timeless tenderness captured in nostalgia. These sculptures are cloaked in the softest hues of powder blue, blush pink, and warm beige, colors that seem to cradle the figures in a hushed, comforting embrace.
They evoke moments suspended between breath and heartbeat, a mother cradling her child with infinite gentleness, siblings sharing a quiet laugh, lovers entwined in a dance of soft glances and tender gestures. Each figure is a delicate ode to human bonds, sculpted with such refined sensitivity that emotion seems to flow from the porcelain itself.
In the workshop, where pin drop silence echoes, the all-female artisans infuse every curve with warmth, every expression with unspoken poetry. Their hands, skilled and patient, capture the nuances of closeness, the mild tilt of head, the soft touch of a hand-transforming cold clay into vessels of profound intimacy.
Fluidity found in everyday acts of love. A reminder that art and life are woven from the same silky threads of affection and memory.
Before us stood an assemblage of some of the most precious, exclusive pieces ever produced. The dancers frozen in mid-step, fantastical animals rendered in minute forms that seemed to suspend the air itself in shape.
Among them, one piece whispered a story that transcended time, a Roman Warrior, poised with serene strength, a testament to both valor and delicate craftsmanship. Sculpted with painstaking detail, every fold of his toga and every line of his armor spoke of an era when honor was carved into stone and spirit.
Among the most captivating modern works is The Guest collection, originally conceived by Spanish designer Jaime Hayón in 2012 as a blank porcelain figure, a canvas inviting artists worldwide to reimagine it.
New York-based illustrator Jade Purple Brown, whose rendition bursts with bold color and butterfly motifs, drawing inspiration from 1960’s and ‘70’s. Her work is a radiant celebration of femininity, empowerment, and sisterhood, breathing contemporary life into tradition. Her collaboration with Lladró marked a milestone in the iconic The Guest series, as the first to design a female character for the collection.
Since then, The Guest has continued to evolve through collaborations with luminaries such as Camille Walala, Paul Smith, Henn Kim, and Richard Cavolo, each figure telling its own unique story.
At Hotel Palacio Vallier, this connection to Lladró is deeply personal, petite versions of The Guest, considerately crafted as a pin, each unique, and presented to the team members as a gift of artistry and belonging, worn with a quiet pride as they welcome their patrons.
Our visit reached its most moving moment in the workshop, where the artisans worked in placid concentration. Their hands were steady, their gestures deliberate yet unhurried, as though shaping music rather than clay. Each petal shaped, each brushstroke placed, was an act of reverence for the material and for tradition and finally their initials painted ever so tenderly under each masterpiece they had culminated!
The kindness of LLadró Museum for their warm welcome and hospitality, the insightful guided tour. Most of all, we are grateful for the gift of time, the freedom to linger, absorb, and let each detail fully settle in.
And among those moments, one memory remains vivid, the coda of creation, the lingering postlude after an operatic climax, an artisan inscribing her initials on the base of a piece, her name to a work that married timeless grace with an avant-garde spirit.
As we departed the quiet oasis of this treasury, I thought of Chef Alberto Sanchez of La Perfumería, Hotel Palacio Vallier. The dedication and delectable flavors from the evening before, created with the same precision and finery, that we had witnessed in LLadró’s myriad treasures. It was a reminder that splendor and allure, whether tasted or seen, nourishes in its unforgettable way! Eager for Chef Sanchez’s new tasting menu.
https://restaurantelaperfumeria.com/en/tasting-menu/
Next week, our journey through Valencia turns its culinary heart.
- Wandering markets alive with color and the mingling aromas of spices and fresh baked bread, the refreshing scent of citrus and sweet fruit.
- Stepping into restaurants where flavors are composed like art.
- Arriving at The Silk Museum, where history runs deep.
Beautiful pieces