Lladró 'Ready for Practice' | Limited Edition Porcelain Figurine | No. 919/3000 | Sculptor Javier Molina | 2010 | Mint Condition

There are Lladró figurines, and then there are the ones that stop you in your tracks. This is firmly the latter.

Produced in Valencia, Spain in 2010 and limited to just 3,000 examples worldwide, this is "Ready for Practice" — one of the most captivating and detailed ballet figurines ever produced by the house of Lladró, and a piece that commands immediate attention from any serious collector.

This example is numbered 919 of 3000, making it a fully documented, authenticated work of porcelain art. The base bears the iconic blue Lladró backstamp — Hand Made in Spain — along with the sculptor's signature of Javier Molina, one of Lladró's most celebrated and sought-after artists, whose ballet figurines are among the most admired in the entire Lladró catalogue. The decoration was carried out by artist Paula Martí, whose signature also appears on the base — making this a doubly signed, dual-artist piece of exceptional provenance.

The figurine itself is a tour de force of the porcelain sculptor's art. Two young ballerinas are caught in the unhurried, intimate moments before practice begins — one seated on an exquisitely rendered Louis XVI-style settee, legs tucked beneath her as she adjusts a ballet slipper with quiet concentration; the other standing at the sofa's back, looking on with the easy companionship of a fellow dancer. Every detail is rendered with breathtaking precision: the teal quilted upholstery of the settee, the gilded carved frame with its rose cartouches, the soft flesh tones of the girls' skin, the pale blue and dusky pink of their practice wear, and the delicate modelling of fingers, toes, and facial expressions that give the whole composition a genuine sense of life and warmth.

Rare Lladró figurines, along with large and elaborate pieces, have sold for $2,000 to $25,000 or more — and this piece, with its dual artist signatures, limited edition status, and mint condition, sits firmly in the upper tier of desirability. The original retail price for comparable Javier Molina limited edition ballet pieces was in the region of $1,230, and secondary market values for mint, signed examples have risen considerably since production ceased.

The condition is absolutely flawless. There are no chips, no cracks, no repairs, no crazing, and not a single scratch to the glaze anywhere on the piece. This is mint condition in the truest sense — as perfect today as the day it left the Lladró atelier in Valencia.

Key Details:

• Maker: Lladró, Hand Made in Spain
• Title: Ready for Practice
• Year: 2010 (© DAISA 2010)
• Edition: Limited to 3,000 — this example No. 919/3000
• Sculptor: Javier Molina (signed)
• Decorator: Paula Martí (signed)
• Condition: Mint — no chips, cracks, crazing or repairs; glaze perfect throughout
• Material: Fine glazed porcelain

Dual-signed, limited edition Lladró in genuine mint condition is the kind of find that experienced collectors act on without hesitation — and rightly so. Pieces of this calibre don't linger.