What Does Lladro Figurines And Michael Jackson Have In Common? More Than You Might Think!

On the 4th anniversary of Michael Jackson's untimely demise we look back at his connection with Lladro statues.

When Michael was around the age of 10 he was given a Lladro figurine as a gift by an unknown individual. This piece sparked a life long affection for the porcelain figures and he continued to collect them for the rest of his life. Sometime in 1977 he visited the Lladro Shop in Madrid Spain and purchased many pieces for his collection. Years later on his 1992 "Dangerous" world tour he decided to visit the Lladro factory in Valencia Spain. Parts of this event were captured on video and documented in Jose Lladro's autobiography.

The video has been posted on you tube and can be viewed here:
Michael Jackson at the Lladro Factory

After the factory tour was over, Michael sat down with some Lladro Family members and artists to discuss the production of a figurine featuring him that would be sold and the profits give to help children's organizations around the world. It is believed that only one of these statues was ever made due to child molestation accusations that surfaced soon after and the figurine stayed in Michael's private collection until it was auctioned off after his death in 2009. At the time it was not know who had purchased the piece, but a few years later it was spotted on Oprah Winfrey's mantle during an interview of Paris Hilton.

CORRECTION: Thank you to the MJJusticeProject for correcting our original post. We incorrectly stated that it was Oprah's mantle that the Lladro Michael Jackson figure was spotted on, but it was actually a home owned by Paris Hilton. They also informed us that the piece has now found it's way back to Michael Jackson's children and currently in their possession.

Thanks For The Update!

A more detailed account of Michael Jackson's Lladro connection can be found here.