How should I display cabinet plates?

These plates suit wall mounting with specialised hangers or placement in glass-fronted display cabinets to protect the gilt surfaces. Keeping them out of direct sunlight preserves the hand-painted enamels and gold leaf over time.

Are these plates meant for food?

Most pieces catalogued as cabinet dishes or decorative chargers serve a purely ornamental function rather than a culinary one. Historic glazes and metallic elements on antique wares can react poorly to modern detergents and cutlery.

How do I identify Japanese Imari?

Japanese Imari pieces typically combine underglaze cobalt blue with iron red and copious gold detailing in dense floral or geometric patterns. Edo period and Meiji era examples often show characteristic crackle or variation in the white porcelain ground.

What periods do these pieces cover?

The selection ranges from eighteenth-century European factories and Japanese Edo examples through Victorian and Edwardian productions. Nineteenth-century items form a large portion of the available porcelain and earthenware forms.