Upon walking into any Lladró — pronounced ‘ya-dro’—, you’re met with a meditative calm. Spanish-bred Rosa Belenguer, the head artist for the porcelain name, explains the anatomy of the limited edition collection ‘Spirit of India.’ Hanuman, Lakshmi, Nandi and Krishna are just a few of the expertly-made and pricey sculptures, making them what most of us would call an investment piece.
On August 30 at Taj Krishna’s Lladró, Rosa shared a demonstration of Ganesh painting, an event that coincided well with the spirit of Vinayaka Chavathi. The event has been held six major metro cities that house Lladró stores.The way Rosa’s hands move about the sculpture is as though she’s worshipping the art and the mythology behind it. Her 27 year experience in the field is evident, “We keep learning and evolving when we come across new concepts. There’s a Documentation Department where we go through a very detailed research. We want to represent the culture as accurately as possible through each sculpture.”
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The initial design of a Lord Ganesha sculpture is first checked for accuracy in detailing and proportion, then moulds are created. The figurine broken down into individual parts and the detailing is handcarved out in each part. Rosa adds, “It’s done with intensive precision because when the artist gets this piece, it has to be very well carved out. So when you paint, the hardwork that has gone into the detailing is enhanced.” Painting upon the porous surface enables the absorption of the pigments into the porcelain. The textures of the sculpture before and after the firing are different, due to the porous nature of porcelain and the fact that it holds a lot of water. Upon firing, the water is given out and the sculpture shrinks slightly and becomes non-porous.
Gesturing towards the 42 x 25cm Lord Ganesha sculpture, the first thing you note is the intricate deatiling in the painting as well as the sculpture— the metallic finishing on Ganesha’s jewellery, the indentations of the ladoos and the silken sheen of the robes. Rosa explains that it takes about 15 to 20 days to create each Ganesha, consisting of two processes: the application of dissolved colours and enamels. Prior to firing the figurine, these are applied. Fixing dissolved colours requires drying out to achieve the stonality. When this is achieved, then you start with the application of enamel. Rosa shares when she finished her first Ganesha, she experienced a peacefulness. “We used new materials and techniques so seeing it all come together was very fulfilling. New materials include the gold metallics and the lustres, bringing a multi-dimensional luminosity to them. Using porcelain adds an ever-lasting quality to it, too.” The special part of ‘Spirit of India’ is the double firing that enhances the metallics and lustres; the intense heat brings the pigments to life.
An eye-catching part of this particular sculpture is Ganesha’s garland; each fragile-looking petal and leaf is placed upon the sculpture, and each leaf is a different shade making it more realistic.
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It’s no wonder each sculpture costs a pretty penny; the love and attention that goes into creating them are, after all, priceless.