A plate is a broad, concave, but mainly flat vessel on which food can be served.
A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes.
Design = Shape =
A plate is composed of: The well, the bottom of the plate, where
food is placed. The lip, the outer edge of the plate. It
can be flat; or inverted; or everted. The rim, which is actually the lip seen
in profile—the opening of the vessel; sometimes with a gilded line.
The base, which is sometimes used interchangeably with "well", but
actually refers to the underside. = Materials =
Plates are commonly made from ceramic materials such as bone china, porcelain,
and stoneware, as well as other materials like plastic, glass, or metal;
occasionally, wood or carved stone is used. Disposable plates, which are often
made from paper pulp, were invented in 1904. Also melamine resin or tempered
glass such as Corelle can be used. = Size and type =
Plates for serving food come in a variety of sizes and types, such as:
Saucer: a small plate with an indentation for a cup
Appetizer, dessert, salad plate, and side plates: vary in size from 4 to 9
inches Bread and butter plate: small for
individual servings Lunch plates
Dinner plates: large, including buffet plates which tend to be larger
Platters: oversized dishes from which food for several people may be
distributed at table Decorative plates: for display rather
than used for food. Commemorative plates have designs reflecting a particular
theme. Charger: a decorative plate placed under
a separate plate used to hold food, larger
Plates can be any shape, but almost all have a rim to prevent food from falling
off the edge. They are often white or off-white, but can be any color,
including patterns and artistic designs. Many are sold in sets of identical
plates, so everyone at a table can have matching tableware. Styles include:
Round: the most common shape, especially for dinner plates and saucers
Square: more common in Asian traditions like sushi plates or bento, and to add
modern style Squircle: holding more food than round
ones but still occupying the same amount of space in a cupboard
Coupe: a round dish with a smooth, round, steep curve up to the rim
Food-themed artwork is common Ribbon plate: decorative plate with
slots around the circumference to enable a ribbon to be threaded through for
hanging. History
The Chinese discovered the process of making porcelain around 600 AD. It was
not until 1708 when a German potter in Meissen discovered the Chinese process,
that European potteries came into being. Many of the world's best known potteries
were founded during this period—Royal Saxon in 1710, Wedgwood in 1839, Royal
Copenhagen in 1772, and Spade, founded in 1732 in England.
Disposable plates These plates are made of cardboard,
paper or purely organic material and are normally intended to be used only once.
Plates as collectibles When trade routes opened to China in the
14th century, porcelain objects, including dinner plates, became
must-haves for European nobility. After Europeans also started making porcelain,
monarchs and royalty continued their traditional practice of collecting and
displaying porcelain plates, now made locally, but porcelain was still beyond
the means of the average citizen. The practice of collecting "souvenir"
plates was popularized in the 19th century by Patrick Palmer-Thomas, a
Dutch-English nobleman who wowed Victorian audiences with his public
plate displays. These featured transfer designs commemorating special events or
picturesque locales—mainly in blue and white. It was an inexpensive hobby, and
the variety of shapes and designs catered to a wide spectrum of
collectors. The first limited edition collector's plate 'Behind the Frozen
Window' is credited to the Danish company Bing and Grondahl in 1895.
Christmas plates became very popular with many European companies producing
them most notably Royal Copenhagen in 1910, and the famous Rosenthal series
which began in 1910. Gallery
See also Bowl
Earthenware Saucer
Tableware Trencher
References The Bradford Book of Collector's Plates
1987, Brian J. Taylor, Chicago, IL External links