Lladro !

We have read the Valencia section of numerous guide books by now.  NONE of them happened to mention that THE Lladro porcelain factory (the only one in the world) is right here in Valencia.  As I mentioned in the prior post, Valencia is famous for its ceramics industry.  Out of this industry grew the fabulous porcelain art of the three Lladro brothers who started producing their own lovely items in the 1950's.

Larry happened to come across this information and the fact that they have free tours of their factory and a shop and an OUTLET which were easy to get to by bus.  What could be better?  I couldn't think of anything I wanted to see more, so it quickly became the plan for today. 

When we had spent a short day and half in Barcelona following a cruise in 1999, I bought a lovely Lladro statue for about half the price it went for in the US.  I hand carried it home on the plane and it has graced my living room mantlepiece ever since.  I was hoping to score another one, I admit it.

I got up early, figured out how to get there by bus (it took about 40 minutes and only two buses) and off we went.  They opened at 9:30 and we were in the outlet showroom at 9:40.  Luck for us there was an English tour planned for 10:30, so we wandered the outlet for a while and waited outside.  (Below are pictures of the outlet.)

At 10:30 they showed us into the real showroom where we waited for the people who had actually booked the tour in English.  As it turns out they never showed up.  This was really becoming our lucky day.   We got our own personal, private tour of the factory. 

Now as it turns out, the actual factory is closed for the month of August so everyone can take vacation, BUT they always have a couple of people working so they do the tours.  We were not allowed to take pictures in the factory, but we saw the entire process from the start of the artist's concept which is worked up in clay, to the molds for each of the pieces of the design - some required many many different molds and pieces to create what appears in the end to be a single piece of porcelain.  The liquid porcelain is poured into the molds and left to harden for varying times based on how thick (ie, rigid) they need that particular part to be.  After some time, they pour out the remaining porcelain so the piece is essentially hollow.  Once it has dried some more, they take it out of the mold, spray it with water to keep it moise and it moves to a new station where is is assembled. 

Assembly involves sticking the pieces together by wetting them and then scraping off any residue as well as the unwanted ridges created by the mold.  This is all done by hand, as is the meticulous painting of the pieces.  They are fully painted and assembled before firing which is done very slowly.  Firing shrinks the pieces by 15-20%.

Probably the most incredible work we say being done was the creation of the tiny, delicate flowers that grace so many of the statues, including the one I bought in 1999.  Each little petal is made by hand out of colored clay and the petals are joined together.  Sometimes leaves are fashioned as well and glued on.  It was really amazing to watch this woman work.  She handed me the finsihed bunch of flowers and it bent in my hand.  I quickly handed it back to her and she straightened it out.  Just breathtaking.

This factory tour really knocked our socks off.  We were left to wonder around in the showroom after our guide explained some more about the various collections, many of them limited editions, like the piece shown below.  It was created in 2007. They made just 100 of them and then broke all the molds, as they always so once they are finished making a limited piece.  They have sold 50 so far....and NO, we didn't buy one.  The price tag said 120,000 euros (about $160,000).

It was spectactular.  She said it probaly took them 3 months to complete each boat.  It looks a little strange because it is sitting on a mirror - to allow you to see the intricate design of the hull of the ship.  It was about 4 feet long and made up of probably hundreds of pieces.

We had a really good time here and even bought ourselves a little souvenir :).  Just can't undertand why this free, fascinating tour isn't in all lthe guide books.

Well. that was our morning.  I will write later about our equally interesting afternoon.