Q I have dishes with bowls that look like heads of lettuce and plates that are a single lettuce leaf. They are marked with the signature ”Dodie Thayer.” Can you tell me anything about them?

A Large leaves were probably one of the first ”plates” used at a feast. So it was not surprising that plates were shaped like cabbage or lettuce leaves by the 1600s. Leaf shaped plates were made of European majolica, Delft, and by the 18th century English potteries Wedgwood, Longton Hall, Chelsea, and Minton, French pottery Jacob Petit, Palissy, and Etruscan Majolica from Pennsylvania, and modern giftware items like California Dodie Thayer ceramics. This Palm Beach ware was made in the 1960s and 70s. Dishes were made from molds of actual cabbage or lettuce leaves or full heads of the vegetable. Pink, red, yellow and green sets were made. They are signed with. the artists name. Recently these Lettuce Ware dishes were reproduced for the Tory Burch shops in green or white. Full sets are made with cups, plates, tureens and more. A new salad plate costs $40. Leaf shaped dishes of all ages ae popular with collectors but only those made of porcelain or after 1900 should be used to serve food.

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