European Dinner Plates

Majolica water lily pond plate Wasmuel, circa 1890.   

French Majolica oyster plate Orchies, circa 1900.

This is a highly decorative, Earthenware (ironstone), Dinner Plate by Ridgway, dating to the Aesthetic period in the second half of the 19th Century, Victorian period, Circa 1884. T...

19th Century Rare French Majolica Reticulated Flowers Platter. 10.3 by 8.7 inches.  

Few 19th-century French faience services embody the elegance, artistic refinement and poetic spirit of the Japonisme movement as beautifully as Jules Vieillard Bordeaux’s celebrated “Nella” pattern. More than a dinner service, this remarkable ensemble is a hand-painted work of art, where every piece celebrates nature through an extraordinary variety of exotic birds, flowering branches, butterflies and delicate insects. No two plates are exactly alike, making each place setting a unique composition while preserving the perfect harmony of the whole. Founded in Bordeaux in 1845, the Jules Vieillard manufactory became one of France’s most prestigious ceramic producers. By the 1870s it employed nearly 1,300 craftsmen, ranking among the country’s leading faience manufacturers. Its artistic creations were celebrated at the great international exhibitions of the nineteenth century, including the Gold Medal awarded at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878, a distinction that firmly established the international reputation of the Bordeaux factory. Created during this golden period, the “Nella” pattern is now regarded as one of the manufactory’s finest and rarest achievements. Inspired by the discovery of Japanese art in Europe during the second half of the nineteenth century, it perfectly reflects the new decorative language that transformed European ceramics. Every piece was individually moulded in fine faience, fired, then meticulously hand-painted by master decorators using coloured enamels before receiving its final transparent glaze and being fired once again. This demanding process ensured exceptional brilliance while allowing each painter complete artistic freedom. Rather than reproducing a single repetitive design, every plate was intentionally decorated with its own individual composition. Kingfishers, parrots and other exotic birds rest upon blossoming branches of prunus, peonies, irises and wild roses. Butterflies, dragonflies and tiny ladybirds animate the white ground with remarkable delicacy, creating the impression of a living garden. The asymmetrical compositions, generous areas of untouched white and graceful movement throughout the decoration perfectly express the refined aesthetic of French Japonisme. Complete “Nella” services have become extraordinarily scarce. Intended for everyday use within distinguished households, most examples were gradually dispersed or damaged over nearly one hundred and fifty years. Today, large coherent ensembles with their original serving pieces seldom appear on the international market. According to family history, this exceptional service remained for generations in an elegant maison de maître on the French Riviera before entering the antiques market. Unlike most surviving examples, which are composed predominantly of plates, this magnificent ensemble retains an unusually rich selection of original serving pieces together with its complete coffee service, making it equally desirable for collectors, designers and prestigious private residences. Composition — 83 Pieces * 27 Dinner Plates – Ø 25 cm (9.84 in) * 14 Soup Plates – Ø 25.5 cm (10.04 in) * 16 Dessert Plates – Ø 22.5 cm (8.86 in) * 1 Covered Soup Tureen * 2 Covered Vegetable Tureens * 1 Covered Serving Dish * 2 Large Oval Serving Platters * 1 Large Fish Platter * 1 Shell-Shaped Compotier * 2 Covered Sauce Boats with Attached Stands * 1 Covered Mustard Pot * 1 Coffee Pot * 1 Covered Sugar Bowl * 1 Milk Jug * 10 Coffee Cups * 11 Coffee Saucers Every piece bears the JVB factory mark beneath, while the principal serving pieces are additionally marked “Nella”, confirming the authenticity of this prestigious model. The overall condition is exceptional considering its age of approximately 150 years. The enamels retain remarkable freshness and brilliance, while the glaze remains beautifully preserved. Minor imperfections are limited to a few discreet hairlines, one deep serving dish displaying slight age-related darkening, one coffee saucer with noticeable staining and the expected traces of careful domestic use accumulated over generations. These small imperfections are entirely consistent with the age of the service and do not detract from its extraordinary visual impact. More than simply an antique dinner service...

A beautiful set of five antique French majolica plates, featuring an elegant relief design of vine leaves, grape clusters, and branches. Their rich palette of greens, browns, and cre...

Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate, Tema e Variazioni No. 224, Lina Cavalieri 1980s This Piero Fornasetti porcelain plate from the Tema e Variazioni series presents the face of the It...

French Majolica strawberries plate circa 1880 Luneville.

French Majolica Green Oyster Plate Luneville circa 1920. Reference: Page 43 "Oyster plates" of J. Karsnitz. 4 plates are available.

19th-Century Victorian Majolica aqua oyster plate signed Minton.

A child’s assiette parlante, a talking plate, illustrated by Benjamin Rabier for Sarreguemines, France – circa 1900. Benjamin Rabier (1864-1939), was a French children’s author, pla...

This is a set of ten Palm Beach grandmillenial Italian hand painted hibiscus mahjong luncheon plates. Perfect for a lady’s luncheon and family snacking and tea parties. They date to ...

Majolica plate with two parakeets on a very rare pink background with oranges of Salins, circa 1890.  

A child’s assiette parlante, a talking plate, illustrated by Benjamin Rabier for Sarreguemines, France – circa 1900. Benjamin Rabier (1864-1939), was a French children’s author, pl...

Unusual French Majolica asparagus plate with 3 spaces unsigned, circa 1890.

Antique early 19th century Coalport John Rose porcelain display plate (circa 1803–1810) featuring the iconic Thumb and Finger Imari pattern with gilt-latticed cobalt cloud motifs and...

English green Majolica geranium plate, circa 1880. one hairline.

English green Majolica geranium plate, circa 1880.

A gorgeous antique French Sarreguemines majolica oyster plate, circa 1870. Maker's mark and model number on reverse (this is an older model). It displays beautifully with vibrant col...

Majolica strawberries plate signed Sarreguemines Majolica, circa 1870. 8 plates are available.  

French green Majolica leaves plate signed Montereau, circa 1890.

Colorful Majolica asparagus plate Salins, circa 1890.   

Green Majolica oyster plate, six white wells on a green basket weave, circa 1890 signed Longchamp.

French green Majolica leaves plate signed Montereau, circa 1890.

Small German Majolica Flowers Plate circa 1900.

Majolica oyster plate signed Sarreguemines, circa 1950.

Small Majolica water lily pond plate Wasmuel, circa 1890.6 inches diameter , 8 plates available.  

French Faience Plate Henriot Quimper Circa 1950. woman from Brittany with a spinning wheel. 10.5 inches diameter.

This porcelain plate is number 89 in Piero Fornasetti’s Tema e Variazioni, the series he built across his career from a single borrowed face, that of the opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Here the face is shown half-immersed. Only the brow and the eyes rise above the surface of a still lake, the lower part of the face lying below the waterline, and the eyes appear a second time in the water as a soft reflection, so that four eyes look out of the plate at once. A stand of rushes crosses the foreground at the lower edge. The image is printed in black by lithographic transfer on a white ground, the whole worked in the fine engraved hatching and stipple that Fornasetti used throughout the series, with the horizontal ripple of the water set against the dotted modeling of the face. The device is characteristically economical: a single unbroken horizontal line converts a portrait into a landscape, and the viewer supplies the rest. Piero Fornasetti (1913–1988) found the face in a nineteenth-century French illustrated magazine and was held by it for the rest of his working life. He was drawn not to Cavalieri’s celebrity but to the formal character of the image, a face he described as archetypal, as classic as a Greek statue and as enigmatic as the Gioconda, and therefore able to carry any idea he brought to it. He produced more than three hundred and fifty variations under the title Tema e Variazioni, almost all of them on plates, and the series has been continued since his death by his son Barnaba under the Atelier Fornasetti name. Patrick Mauriès observes that for Fornasetti a single product never exhausted the possibilities of an idea, and that much of his work therefore takes the form of variations on a theme; among the recurring subjects he lists the sun, playing cards, the harlequin, and hands, but above all this face, which appears through the series as a moon, a flower, a lake, a mask, a mosaic, a clock, and a single disembodied eye. The present plate is the lake. The porcelain blanks were bought in and decorated at the Milan studio, and the green Arzberg mark beneath the black Fornasetti stamp records the German factory that supplied this one. Hung on its own or grouped with other plates from the series, it holds a wall far beyond its size. Dimensions Diameter: 10 inches (25.4 cm) Marks Printed to the reverse with the Fornasetti eye...

Green Victorian Majolica sunflower plate Wedgwood, circa 1880.

French Majolica strawberries plate Orchies, circa 1890.

A child’s assiette parlante, a talking plate, illustrated by Benjamin Rabier for Sarreguemines, France – circa 1900. Benjamin Rabier (1864-1939), was a French children’s author, pla...

French Majolica pink daisy plate Orchies, circa 1890.

English Victorian Majolica oyster plate, circa 1890.

A charming antique set of eight French Majolica Barbotine dessert plates by Orchies, dating to the late 19th or early 20th century. Each plate is individually hand-finished and decor...

This exceptional ceramic plate is a fine example of early 19th-century English pottery, produced by the renowned Mason’s Ironstone China around 1820. Featuring the iconic Blue Willow...

Monteverde is a collection inspired by the Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica, located in the central part of the country. It is a mountainous area rich in biodiversity, known for it...

French Majolica oyster plate with flowers circa 1890 signed Longchamp.

French Majolica blue, pink and grey oyster plate unsigned from Fives Lille, circa 1890.

French Majolica Parrots & Bamboo Plate Salins, circa 1890.    

Decorative ceramic plate made in France, decorated with a design inspired by the work of Pablo Picasso. The central motif depicts two stylized figures in motion, drawn in black and enhanced with graphic touches of green, red, and blue, characteristic of the artist's pictorial vocabulary. An emblematic piece embodying the dialogue between modern art and 20th-century decorative arts, produced in the tradition of French artistic ceramics. Main Features : Decorative ceramic plate France, 20th century Design inspired by Pablo Picasso Stylized figures and expressive graphic composition Polychrome palette: black, blue, green, and red Marked on the reverse (France) Excellent collector's item or wall decoration A fusion of modern art and decorative ceramics Keywords : Picasso plate, Picasso ceramics France, modern decorative plate, French modern art, decorative cubism, 20th-century artistic ceramics, collectible plate, French art and design, modern wall decoration, Vallauris Picasso...

Set of fourteen Spode floral plates. Fourteen softly scalloped and gilt banded plates each with uniquely painted intertwined floral botanical wreathing; from the factory under Josiah...

Set of 2 French Green Majolica Plates – Sarreguemines Manufacture – 20th Century Description: This is a set of four majolica plates, crafted in France during the 20th century by the ...

Featuring set of 8 delicate, romantic, and unmistakably timeless—the Lavendar Rose dinner plates by Royal Albert captures the essence of English floral elegance. Featuring soft clust...

Rare Set of 6 French Majolica Palm Plate Sarreguemines, circa 1870. Diameter / 7.5 inches.

Elegant blue and white oyster plate signed Bordeaux Vieillard, circa 1890. Six wells surrounded by blue seaweeds of different kinds. Ref / 2732.

French Majolica white daisy plate Orchies, circa 1890.

Unique set of 11 hand decorated porcelain ceramic dinner plates featuring various fish using exuberant brushstrokes. Each plate signed on back with the name of fish depicted.

French Majolica blue, pink and grey oyster plate unsigned from Fives Lille, circa 1890.

French porcelain oyster plate with seaweeds Limoges, circa 1900.

Mid-Century Ceramic Red Oyster Plate Vallauris circa 1950. 9 colors available. pink,navy blue,yellow,orange,green,purple,black,aqua,red.

French Set of six green majolica grapes plates, circa 1880.  

French Majolica asparagus plate Onnaing, circa 1890.

French Majolica blue, pink and grey oyster plate unsigned from Fives Lille, circa 1890.

This magnificent set of two dessert plates will be a precious addition to any home. The pieces are part of the Costantinopoli collection, comprising porcelain plates decorated with a...

Majolica asparagus plate signed Luneville Keller & Guerin, circa 1890.

This elegant French dinner service was crafted by A. Lanternier & Cie in Limoges, renowned for producing some of the finest porcelain of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The h...

This striking set comprises twelve majolica oyster plates and one large matching serving platter, beautifully crafted in the style of Longchamp, France. Each plate features a vivid g...

The image shows a plate from the Burleigh Blue Asiatic Pheasants collection. This Plate dates back to the mid 1800s Design: This collection features intricate soft blue flowers and ...

Rare 19th century Majolica oyster plate with pastels colors, shells and seaweeds signed Gien.