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Arabella Dinner Plate, Green Palm Tree Set of 4

£120

Materials
Fine European Earthernware
Width
26.5 cm

A single palm rises from a brown-scaled trunk at the centre, four bold pink blooms at the rim — hand-painted in Caldas da Rainha, carrying a motif that travelled from Moorish Andalusia to a Portuguese atelier centuries before it reached this set of 4 Arabella Dinner Plates. 

The palm tree is one of our collectors' favourite designs, from our best-selling tablecloth to the palm tree plates, its a popular one for the ages.

Inspiration
The palm tree arrived in European decorative arts as a symbol of everywhere Europeans wanted to be and could not quite reach. The Orientalists painted it first — grand, solitary, silhouetted against a desert sky — and the ceramicists followed, as ceramicists always do, borrowing from painters who borrowed from travellers who borrowed from the thing itself.

In the decorative tradition, the palm carries contradictory meanings with remarkable ease. To the ancient Egyptians, it marked the passage of time — one frond for every month of the year. To the Romans, it was victory. To the Arabs who cultivated it across North Africa and into Andalusia, it was simply life — shade, fruit, water found. The Moorish craftsmen who brought their tilework north into Portugal understood this. Their azulejos carried the palm not as a symbol but as a fact, the way you paint something you have grown up beside.

By the time it reached the drawing rooms of nineteenth-century Europe, the palm had become something else entirely — exotic, aspirational, a shorthand for warmth and distance and the particular glamour of a life lived closer to the equator than most people managed.

JJ finds it the most well-travelled motif in her collection. A palm on a Portuguese plate has passed through Egypt, Rome, Moorish Andalusia, and a Lisbon atelier before it reaches the table. That is a great deal of history for something that looks, at first glance, simply like a very good plant.
Collectors Questions

Q: Are these for everyday use or best kept for special occasions?


A: They are made for use, and use is exactly what brings them to life. These plates look great decorating a wall and wall cabinets and mostly look fantastic on the table. Hand-painting ages gracefully; it does not need protecting. That said, treat them with the same consideration you would give any well-made thing, and they will outlast cheaper alternatives by years.

Q: Are the dinner plates dishwasher safe?


A: They can go in the dishwasher on a low-temperature or eco cycle — ideally 30–40°C or below — with a mild, non-aggressive detergent. Skip the intensive cycle and switch off heated drying. That said, hand-washing is the better long-term habit if you want the glaze and hand-painted detail to hold their depth for years rather than months.

Q: Do the dinner plates mix well with plain white crockery?


A: Beautifully. A patterned dinner plate alongside plain white is one of the most enduring combinations in table setting — the pattern stands out, the white gives it air. It's an easy way to bring a Casa by JJ plate into a table that's already established.

Q: Do the side plates match the dinner plates from the same collection exactly?


A: Where a matching dinner plate exists within the same collection — such as the Cara Shell or Camilla pairs — both are drawn from the same glaze and pattern, so they're designed to sit together as one setting. That said, mixing different designs across the Casa by JJ range is always encouraged.

Q: Are these a suitable wedding or housewarming gift?


A: A set of four distinctive dinner plates is one of the more considered gifts you can give — something the recipient will use and notice every time, and won't already own. Gift wrapping and a handwritten note are available at checkout.

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Sustainable Practices

Towards A Greener Future

At Casa by JJ, we believe true luxury considers its legacy, not just in heirloom pieces, but in the planet we leave behind. That’s why we are proud to triple carbon offset, going beyond neutral to give back more than we take. Every collection is a step towards a greener future, where beauty at home and responsibility to the world exist in harmony.

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