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Peacock Dinner Plate, Green Set of 4

£120

Materials
Fine European Earthernware
Width
27.5 cm

A set of 4 hand-painted dinner plates from Caldas da Rainha — sweeping green fronds fanning from a single cobalt centre, ringed by a border of hand-dotted blue.

This pattern has been turning on Portuguese wheels since the eighteenth century — a motif borrowed from nature and made entirely geometric by the painter's hand. It looks like a fern. It looks like a feather. It looks like neither.
JJ first saw it propped in a Lisbon kitchen and spent some time deciding whether it was very old or very new. That ambiguity, she concluded, was precisely the point.
Place it alone or among the Cordelia plate range. The choice is yours

Inspiration
The peacock arrived in European ceramics via the Silk Road — carried west in the imagination of traders who had seen the real thing strutting the courts of Mughal India and decided that no written description would do it justice.

By the time it reached the porcelain painters of eighteenth-century Meissen, then Delft, then the ateliers of Portugal and Spain, it had passed through so many hands and so many cultures that it had become something else entirely — no longer a bird, but a symbol. Of vanity, yes. But also of immortality. The ancient Romans believed peacock flesh did not decay. The early Christians painted it on the walls of the catacombs for exactly that reason.

The craftsmen of Caldas da Rainha inherited this tradition without inheriting its solemnity. Their peacocks are not regal. They are generous — wide-tailed, loose-feathered, painted with the particular confidence of someone who has drawn this bird ten thousand times and has long since stopped being careful about it.

JJ finds that the most beautiful things rarely announce themselves. The peacock on a Portuguese plate, caught mid-turn on a Sunday table, is one of them.
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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