For formal dinner parties, silver chargers are often used to enhance a festive dinner celebration at Fox Hall.
This is the week many of you will be setting a table for Thanksgiving! With that in mind, the topic of chargers came to mind.
A “charger” is a plate that is more significant in diameter than a dinner plate. It is also referred to as a service plate or an underplate. While chargers are used for decorative purposes these days, they were primarily used to protect the table from hot plates being placed directly on top of the table’s wood surface. They date back to the 15th century. Chargers vary in size from 11-14" in diameter.
Food is never served on the actual charger. Instead, the dinner plate is placed on top of the charger. Additional courses may be served on the charger too.
Do you know when NOT to use a charger? The dessert course! A charger is permanently removed before the dessert course is served.
Chargers have become a popular decoration for dinner tables in recent decades and are made of various materials with endless color options. The most traditional style of charger is made of porcelain or silver. For formal dinner parties, I prefer silver because I think it complements the other silver accouterments on my table (candlesticks, wine coasters, flatware, serving pieces) and adds a hint of glamour.
A charming “ladies' luncheon” was hosted in my honor as the Chair of the Paradise Ball for the Salvation Army in a very notable Palm Beach home. The hostess had a perfectly divine buffet arranged in the dining room, and as the guests entered the “party sunroom,” they were greeted by the pretty floral Herend serving plates at each place setting.
Chargers are often used to decorate the table for visual interest and then removed, as is often done in private clubs or restaurants. For example, at the Palm Beach Yacht Club, a handsome cobalt blue and gold charger featuring the Club insignia greets guests at the table. When a cocktail is ordered there, it is served on top of the charger. The charger is then removed before the guest's first course is served.
Chargers are rarely used in a proper English country house. My dear friend, the Executive Director of The English Manner, William Hanson, with his brilliant British sense of humor, summarizes the use of chargers: “They serve no practical use as you do not eat off one and are - frankly- a waste of money!"
At a White House dinner, a handsome gold-enhanced charger, created in honor of President Dwight Eisenhower, adds to the formality of the table.
Grandmillennial Tips:
I like to think of ways to repurpose silver. My service plates (chargers) are occasionally placed underneath flower arrangements. It not only collects the fallen pollen but also serves to enhance, reflect and frame the arrangement!
Pretty porcelain chargers may also be used as unique artwork by using plate hangers to create a design on a wall.
Consider using a charger to serve hors d'oeuvres. They are the perfect size for small gatherings.
A charger can also be used to enhance your flower arrangement!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I am ever so grateful for your worldwide support and subscribership. You will be counted in my blessings. Gobble gobble!
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Holly