Crown Derby Cherubs Porcelain Plates
Antique 1780s English Georgian Dinner Plates
Porcelain
People Also Browsed
Early 20th Century German Urns
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Planters, Cachepots and Jardin...
Porcelain
Antique 1790s English George III Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Planters, Cachepots and Ja...
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century English Neoclassical Vases
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century Urns
Porcelain
Antique Early 1800s English George III Dinner Plates
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic, Majolica
Antique Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Vases
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century Victorian Vases
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century French Planters, Cachepots and Jardinières
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Renaissance Vases
Ceramic, Majolica
Early 20th Century German Neoclassical Table Lamps
Porcelain
Vintage 1920s German Empire Revival Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique Early 19th Century English Urns
Siena Marble, Bronze, Ormolu
Antique 1860s German Baroque Porcelain
Porcelain
Finding the Right dinner-plates for You
Set the mood when you’re setting the table. The right antique and vintage dinner plates for the meals in your home can truly elevate the dining experience.
We haven’t had our own plate at dinner for very long. It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th century in Europe that individual dinner plates had become the norm, replacing the platters that diners had shared before them. Innovations at the dining table are believed to have been introduced by Italian noblewoman Catherine de’ Medici, who, when she married King Henry II of France in 1533, brought with her decorative table adornments for meals and fine tableware such as silver forks, replacing the fingers and knives utilized during dinner before her arrival. Italy was a bit faster on table settings, and, thanks to Catherine, tableware such as dinner plates would also replace the wooden trenchers and flat slabs of days-old bread that preceded them.
Today, while enthusiasts of mid-century modern furnishings might pine for vintage mismatched dinner plates — a mix of old and new can be refreshing — presenting ceramic vessels, glassware and decorative centerpieces that matched was once actually part of the point as setting the table became more refined during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And as Fornasetti dinner plates and Chinese porcelain tableware have long held weight as collector’s items and status symbols, your dinner dishes haven’t ever really been merely functional. From antique metal dishes and ornamental earthenware designed by celebrated English ceramics makers Wedgwood, dinner plates are statement-making works that bring elegance and likely stir conversation at your table.
Entertaining is an art form, and the kitchen bar island and dining room table in your space are cherished gathering places where families and friends convene and grow closer over good meals. Browse an extensive collection of antique and vintage dinner plates to pair with these important events today on 1stDibs.