A cabinet plate is a plate made for display rather than use, intended to be admired in a glazed cabinet, on a stand or hung on a wall. Typically of fine porcelain, it carries a painted centre, such as a landscape, portrait, flowers, fruit or birds, framed by a richly gilded or coloured border, and it often represents the finest work a factory could produce.
Cabinet plates were made by most leading European porcelain factories from the late eighteenth century onwards, including Sèvres, Meissen, Berlin and Vienna, and by English makers such as Derby, Worcester, Coalport, Minton and Spode. In the Victorian and Edwardian periods, Royal Worcester, Minton and Royal Crown Derby employed specialist painters whose signed work is keenly collected, and many cabinet plates were sold individually as presentation pieces. Collectors assess the quality and subject of the painting, the condition of the gilding, the presence of a signature and factory mark, and whether the piece has been rubbed, restored or redecorated. A group of cabinet plates displayed together on a wall or in a vitrine creates a rich decorative effect in a dining room or drawing room.
