Rajah China Set
Vintage 1930s American Dinner Plates
Ceramic
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Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Tableware
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Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
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Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s British Hollywood Regency Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
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Mid-20th Century Portuguese Country Ceramics
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Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Ceramic
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
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1990s German Modern Platters and Serveware
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s American Dinner Plates
Ceramic
Late 20th Century American Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Porcelain
Vintage 1920s German Art Deco Porcelain
Porcelain
Early 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Vases
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Late 20th Century German 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.