Plate
Hungary, c.1935
Ceramic, painted, glazed

One of the most prominent items on the Passover table is the seder plate. Decorative seder plates were crafted from varied materials. Ceramics was a popular medium, although the fragile nature of ceramics has left few extant examples. In Hungary, Herend was the firm that crafted the finest painted porcelin and pottery; this factory was founded by a Jew in the mid 19th century. Only a few pieces of Jewish work are known from this prestigious firm, the equivalent of Meissan in Hungary. The floral design on this plate was first used in the 19th century, although this example shows the continuation of the tradition into the 20th century. Such plates are exceedingly rare. The Hebrew inscription around the rim records the words indicating the various ritual actions performed at the Passover seder.


D. 35.5 cm

enlarge