There is a place in Valencia, Spain, where time stands still... to make way for dreams.The kind of place its founders Juan, Jose and Vicente Lladro dreamt of when they started firing their first set of porcelains back in 1953.
Valencia is known as the ‘City Of Porcelain’ and is one of the top tourist attractions in Spain with over 15,000 visitors a year.
The Lladro artists still work with this white gold at the same gentle pace but now they give it a creatively contemporary touch. Their work also includes modeling, sculpting, drawing, ornamentation and painting.
Even today, Lladro still creates all its pieces by hand in its sole factory. And it exports its creations to over 120 countries.
There is a certain romance about the porcelain figurines with exquisite proportions, that Lladro conjures up. Apart from the figurines, it also delves into the world of lamps/ lights, mirrors, vases and jewellery. It embraces both gloss pastel classics and new matte finish. The products actually exemplify the vision of the artist of a perfect world. Whether it is a horse galloping or gorgeous women and men with aquiline features – they are all aesthetic.
The artists not only skilfully craft the most beautiful images of people, animals and objects in life, but also of deities across the world that are absolutely worthy of worship. And so at the Lladro Boutique at the high end Bergamo mall, Nungambakkam, the magnificent, nearly life-size Siva occupies pride of place — beautifully defined facial features, accessories and the garland adorning his neck, the statue of delicate porcelain draws one to its ethereal beauty.
A limited edition — one of the 720 units hand made at Lladro high porcelain, the brand’s maximum artistic category, with such painstaking ornamentation and chromatic richness of the Spanish palette that includes complex, decorative techniques such as the golden lustre that heightens the majestic splendor of the character.
The deity must have fascinated the Lladro artists enough to give it such life and with such detailing. Siva’s attributes are so finely defined and they lie in the details From bracelets to the flowers in the headdress and in the garland have each flower made by hand petal by petal. The trident, the drum, the snake round his neck, the rudraksha mala, the Ganga that flows from the coils of his hair, are other examples of fine detailing. Even the lustrous grayish blue of the skin is symbolic of the ash that is so associated with Siva.
Finally the sculpture is rounded off with a base that provides room for the optional piece of the lingam.
Of course one does have to make allowances for the fact that the face is not entirely Indian as is commonly understood — but artistic license has to be taken into account. And under the Spirit of India Creations, there are the figurines of Goddesses such as Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Sita – all beautiful in their detailing just as the Shirdi Sai Baba, Ganesha, Ram Darbar, the Buddha, Krishna in his various playful forms. A lovely piece of the recently canonized mother Teresa is also on display.
