What makes a plate a cabinet plate?

It was made or set aside to be displayed rather than eaten from, on a stand or behind glass in a china cabinet. The habit grew with the porcelain factories of the 18th and 19th centuries and the Victorian and Edwardian taste for showing off painted china. A large share began as dessert-service plates. Their broad flat wells suited elaborate painting, so they were catalogued later as cabinet plates.

Which factories appear most often?

Worcester in all its guises is the single most-named factory, appearing in a fifth of titles, with Royal Worcester the largest part of that and the early Flight, Barr & Barr partnerships accounting for around ten titles on their own. Derby, Minton and Coalport follow. Continental names include Vienna, Sèvres, Meissen, Dresden, KPM, Chantilly and Paris porcelain.

Are they sold singly or in sets?

Singly, for the most part. That is the everyday piece: one hand-decorated plate from a named factory. Pairs run through about an eighth of titles. Sets of three, four, six, seven, eight, ten and twelve do appear, including twelve Satsuma Meiji plates and ten Mason's ironstone plates.

How old are cabinet plates usually?

The dated field runs 1800 to 1960, and decade labels cluster in the 1900s, 1920s, 1910s, 1930s and 1880s. The 18th century appears only eight times. Titles reach further at both ends than the dated field does, from a Sèvres soft-paste plate dated 1777 and a Chantilly plate of about 1755 through to painted fruit plates described as 1970s.

What does a signed plate mean?

It carries the decorator's painted signature, which is separate from the factory mark. Fifteen titles say a plate is signed, and artist names recur across Royal Worcester painted fruit and bird subjects. Only one decorator's name is carried by three or more dealers, which shows how thinly artist attribution is spread across the trade. Elsewhere a painter may be given only as an attribution.

Do unusual shapes turn up?

They do, though rarely. Shell-shaped plates by H & R Daniel and a Japanese Imari one, hexagonal and octagonal Imari and Spode plates, and a square Cauldon plate with handles all appear in the sample. The largest thing recorded is a 60cm Vienna charger.

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Antique Cabinet Plates

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A cabinet plate is a decorative porcelain plate made or set aside for display on a stand or in a china cabinet, many of them dessert-service plates whose broad painted wells were always meant to be looked at.