Vintage Oyster Plates Two Ways

On a table or displayed on a shelf, vintage oyster plates bring style to our homes
place setting with oyster plate, color palette: purple, coral, and green
The pretty green glaze of a vintage oyster plate pops cheerfully against purples and corals on a table styled by Amanda Smith Fowler. Photo by David Hillegas

Flower Style Editor Amanda Smith Fowler always has a few tricks up her sleeve to provide the wow factor in the tables she sets for our “At The Table” column. Recently, she retrieved a vintage oyster plate from her china cabinet to put the finishing touch on a place setting inspired by a fabulous abstract print she chose for the tablecloth—Clarence House’s Maramba fabric in Plum.

Where else have we seen these fun plates lately? Interior designer James Farmer used a row of Majolica oyster plates as graphic, flower-like punctuation points on open shelving in the serene green kitchen shown below.

To get the look, shop for vintage oyster plates at your local antiques shop or through online sources such as Chairish, 1stDibs, Etsy, or Ebay. Amanda found hers at Adams Antiques & The Potager in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

muted green kitchen designed by James Farmer
Photo by Jeff Herr from ARRIVING HOME by James Farmer (Gibbs Smith, 2020). See more from this home in FLOWER’s feature story.