A plate is a broad, mainly flat vessel on which food can be served. A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes. Most plates are circular, but they may be any shape, or made of any water, or shatter resistant material. Generally plates are raised round the edges, either by a curving up, or a wider lip or raised portion. Vessels with no lip, especially if they have a more rounded profile, are likely to be considered as bowls or dishes, as are very large vessels with a plate shape. Plates are dishware, and tableware. Plates in wood, pottery and metal go back into antiquity in many cultures.
In Western culture and many other cultures, the plate is the typical vessel from which food is eaten and on which it is served, provided the food is not too high in liquid content, its primary alternative is the bowl. Some South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures use leaf plates made from the leaves of a variety of plants, including the banana leaf, pandan leaf, sometimes using underlying paper. Parts of the bamboo plant, like sections of bamboo tubes, bambuseae leaves, bamboo shoot skin, and the paper (cf. Kaishi and Washi) are also used as plates in East Asian cultures.
Contents
Design
Shape
A plate is typically composed of:
The well, the bottom of the plate, where food is placed.
The lip, the flattish raised outer part of the plate (sometimes wrongly called the rim). Its width in proportion to the well can vary greatly. It usually has a slight upwards slope, or is parallel with the base, as is typical in larger dishes and traditional Chinese shapes. Not all plates have a distinct lip.
The rim, the outer edge of the piece; often decorated, for example with gilding.
The base, the underside.
The usual wide and flat European raised lip is derived from old European metalwork plate shapes; Chinese ceramic plates usually just curve up at the edges, or have a narrow lip. A completely flat serving plate, only practical for dry foods, may be called a trencher, especially if in wood.
Materials
Plates are commonly made from ceramic materials such as bone china, porcelain, earthenware, and stoneware, as well as other traditional materials like glass, wood, or metal; occasionally, stone has been used. Despite a range of plastics and other modern materials, ceramics and other traditional materials remain the most common, except for specialized uses such as plates for young children. Porcelain and bone china were once luxurious materials but today can be afforded by most of the world's population. Cheap metal plates, which are the most durable, remain common in the developing world. Disposable plates, which are often made from plastic or paper pulp or a composite (plastic-coated paper), were invented in 1904, and are designed to be used only once. Also melamine resin or tempered glass such as Corelle can be used.
Size and type
As food availability increased, so did plate sizes. The increase in the diameter of a typical dinner plate is estimated as 65% since 1000 AD.
Modern plates for serving food come in a variety of sizes and types, such as:
Dinner plate (also full plate, meat plate, joint plate): large, 9–13 inches (23–33 cm) in diameter; only buffet/serving plates are larger. This is the main (at times only) individual plate. During its disappearance in Europe that happened with the fall of the Roman Empire, trencher plates made of bread (or wood) were used. Regular plates returned to fashion at the French court under Francis I of France around 1536.
Entrée plate (also half plate, dessert plate, fish plate) has a diameter of 8.5 inches (22 cm) and is used for hors d'oeuvre, fish, entrée, or a dessert.
Dessert plate (also sweet plate, half plate, fruit plate) has a diameter of 8 inches (20 cm), usually is substituted by an entrée plate
Side plate (also bread and butter plate, B&B plate, quarter plate, cheese plate) has a diameter of 6 to 7 inches (15 to 18 cm), also used as an underplate for soup bowl
Salad plate can be either round, 7 to 8.5 inches (18 to 22 cm) in diameter, or intended to be positioned snugly to the right of a full plate, the latter usually has a crescent shape (hence another name, a crescent plate).
Tea saucer is a small plate with an indentation for a cup and a diameter of 6 inches (15 cm). A demi-tasse saucer, or coffee saucer is 4.5 inches (11 cm) in diameter.
Soup plate has a diameter of 9 inches (23 cm), a much deeper well and wide rim ("lip"). If the lip is lacking, as often seen in contemporary tableware, it is a "soup bowl". May also be used for desserts.
Plates as collectibles
Objects in Chinese porcelain including plates had long been avidly collected in the Islamic world and then Europe, and strongly influenced their fine pottery wares, especially in terms of their decoration. After Europeans also started making porcelain in the 18th century, 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 until the 19th century.
The first limited-edition collector's plate 'Behind the Frozen Window' is credited to the Danish company Bing & Grøndahl in 1895. Christmas plates became very popular with many European companies producing them most notably Royal Copenhagen in 1910, and a Rosenthal series which began in 1910.