This black sample version of his pig bank is made from porcelain rather than the usual ceramic, the only remaining evidence of the time Lladró approached Areaware to start a partnership with its factory. “So we tried it,” he explains. “They did a beautiful job, but it came out to be $600 retail, and you don’t actually get to co-brand it Lladró, it’s just made by their factory. Plus, most people already had the perception that the white pig is made of ceramic — no one knew it was resin. We decided not to do it; we were way too far down the road to make it happen. But we are working on a matte-black pig in resin.”