Hermes Cups And Saucers
Late 20th Century French Tableware
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Tea Sets
Vermeil, Sterling Silver
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Antique 1870s French Dinner Plates
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20th Century French Floor Lamps
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Early 18th Century Baroque Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings
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Early 20th Century American American Classical Sterling Silver
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Antique Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Bird Cages
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Antique 1860s Victorian Porcelain
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Antique Early 1900s German Art Nouveau Porcelain
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Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Inkwells
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Antique 1780s French Louis XVI Planters, Cachepots and Jardinières
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20th Century French Hollywood Regency Tableware
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Antique 19th Century Unknown Empire Cabinets
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21st Century and Contemporary French Tableware
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Late 20th Century French Modern Serving Pieces
Porcelain, Paint
Vintage 1980s French Other Tableware
Porcelain
Late 20th Century French Modern Serving Pieces
Porcelain, Paint
2010s French Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Late 20th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s French Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1990s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Late 20th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
20th Century French Other Tea Sets
Porcelain
1990s French Porcelain
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary French Dinner Plates
Porcelain
20th Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique Early 1800s Austrian Porcelain
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Early 2000s French Modern Porcelain
Early 2000s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Early 2000s French Modern Porcelain
Platinum
2010s French Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary French Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Late 20th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Early 2000s French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary French Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Late 20th Century French Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
20th Century Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
1990s Other Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s French Ceramics
Porcelain
1990s French Other Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Ceramic
20th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s French Organic Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
20th Century French Delft and Faience
Porcelain
20th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
Late 20th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s French Organic Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Finding the Right porcelain for You
Today you’re likely to bring out your antique and vintage porcelain in order to dress up your dining table for a special meal.
Porcelain, a durable and nonporous kind of pottery made from clay and stone, was first made in China and spread across the world owing to the trade routes to the Far East established by Dutch and Portuguese merchants. Given its origin, English speakers called porcelain “fine china,” an expression you still might hear today. "Fine" indeed — for over a thousand years, it has been a highly sought-after material.
Meissen Porcelain, one of the first factories to create real porcelain outside Asia, popularized figurine centerpieces during the 18th century in Germany, while works by Capodimonte, a porcelain factory in Italy, are synonymous with flowers and notoriously hard to come by. Modern porcelain houses such as Maison Fragile of Limoges, France — long a hub of private porcelain manufacturing — keep the city’s long tradition alive while collaborating with venturesome contemporary artists such as illustrator Jean-Michel Tixier.
Porcelain is not totally clumsy-guest-proof, but it is surprisingly durable and easy to clean. Its low permeability and hardness have rendered porcelain wares a staple in kitchens and dining rooms as well as a common material for bathroom sinks and dental veneers. While it is tempting to store your porcelain behind closed glass cabinet doors and reserve it only for display, your porcelain dinner plates and serving platters can safely weather the “dangers” of the dining room and be used during meals.
Add different textures and colors to your table with dinner plates and pitchers of ceramic and silver or a porcelain lidded tureen, a serving dish with side handles that is often used for soups. Although porcelain and ceramic are both made in a kiln, porcelain is made with more refined clay and is stronger than ceramic because it is denser.
On 1stDibs, browse an expansive collection of antique and vintage porcelain made in a variety of styles, including Regency, Scandinavian modern and other examples produced during the mid-century era, plus Rococo, which found its inspiration in nature and saw potters crafting animal figurines and integrating organic motifs such as floral patterns in their work.