The first Christmas Plate in the world was created in 1895 by Bing & Grøndahl. Harald Bing proposed producing a holiday plate, as Bing & Grøndahl’s rival Royal Copenhagen had found success with souvenir plates for various events and festivals. These Christmas plates proved an enormous success, and the tradition of Christmas Plates is still in effect today over 130 years later.

This plate, designed by Frans Hallin, shows the starry skyline of Copenhagen while frost crawls up the bottom of the plate. At the top is written “Christmas Evening 1895” in Danish.

The mass production of Christmas Plates was made possible due to their relief molding. The texture of the plate allows the design to be spray-painted on and then touched-up by hand. The process was developed by Frans Hallin and was brought to Bing & Grøndahl after he left Royal Copenhagen’s factory.

1895 Christmas Plate, Bing & Grøndahl
Denmark 
1895 
Ceramic
Museum Purchase
2011.040.002