Retired: 1981
Painful Elephant Lladró

My Lladró has a hole in the bottom and rattles. Is it broken?

What you describe is not a defect and is quite common with all fine porcelain. Many pieces have a "breathing hole" in the base to allow steam to escape during the firing process. The process of "punching" this hole in the base before firing displaces a tiny plug of porcelain to the inside of the hollow figurine; that tiny porcelain bit hardens with firing, causing the distinctive rattle.