Guides · The table

Charger plates: what they are, the sizes, and when to clear them

The plate under the plate, from the etiquette books, service manuals, makers and food-safety rules that describe it, side by side where they disagree: its names, its sizes, when it leaves the table, whether you can eat off it, and how to style one for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The photos on this page are AI-generated illustrations.

The short answer

What is a charger plate?

A charger plate is a large decorative base plate set under the plate you eat from; it is also called a service plate, place plate or underplate. Of the 30 charger products we read with a printed size, 12 are 13 in (33 cm). When to clear it splits four ways in what we read: some hosts take it away as guests sit, older manuals take it away with the soup plate, the Emily Post Institute exchanges it for the main-course plate, and caterers clear it after the main.^{1, 13, 23, 24, 78, 100} Where it sits among the other plates is in our plates guide; the rest of the setting is in how to set a table.

The charger at a glance	What the sources say
Also called	Service plate, place plate, underplate; rarer: cover, lay, buffet, chop and base plate (who uses which)
Size	13 in (33 cm) for 12 of 30 products; 30.0 cm (11.81 in, ours) to 15 in (38 cm, ours) (every product)
Rim round the dinner plate	No published rule; same-maker pairs leave 0.75 in to 1.25 in (1.9 cm to 3.2 cm) a side, our arithmetic (the pairs)
When it leaves	Split four ways across 28 sources; none says to keep it for dessert (who says what, and our pick)
Food on it	Today's etiquette sources: never directly; plates and bowls of the opening courses go on it (what goes on it)
Eating off it	Depends on the material and the maker's label, not the word charger (by material and country)
The name	From Anglo-French chargeour, from charger, to load: first a big platter (history)

On this page: What it is · Sizes · Rim · When to clear it · What goes on it · How to use one · Eating off one · Materials and care · Charger vs placemat · Buffets and weddings · Thanksgiving and Christmas · History · Terms · FAQ

A holiday place setting on a cream linen tablecloth: a gold charger with a beaded rim and a plain white rimmed dinner plate centred on it, a ring of gold showing all the way round, a folded deep green cloth napkin on the plate, two silver forks on the left, a knife and spoon on the right, a water glass and a glass of red wine at the upper right, evergreen sprigs with red berries and a lit candle softly out of focus behind — **A gold charger under a white dinner plate, napkin on top** (the dinner plate preset on it, as caterers set it): gold is in every row of our Christmas colours table, though not in every Christmas source we read (who says what). An illustration, not a table we set.

How this page was made. Every name, size, rule and date comes from the source named beside it, with its edition or date and page where it has one. Old etiquette books, service manuals and magazines were read in full scans; a few lending-only books were read only as short search fragments, and each source's entry says how it was read. Makers' pages count as what they sell, not as etiquette. Plate Artists set no tables and tested no chargers for this page. Sums, conversions and anything marked "ours" are our own. Sources are at the bottom.

Names

What is a charger plate called? Service plate, place plate and the other names

Dictionaries agree on the job: "a plate that is put on a table for another plate, a bowl, a table decoration, etc. to be placed on top" (Cambridge); "a large plate used under a place setting as a decoration" (Oxford's American English entry; its British entry has no table sense).^{76, 77} Merriam-Webster files it under service plate: "a large elaborate plate used to indicate a place at table and to serve as an under plate during the first courses"; its own "charger" is still "a large flat dish or platter".^{78, 79} The Emily Post Institute heads its entry "Service Plate" and gives charger as the also-called.¹ Here is every other name we found, and who uses it; nobody we read calls it a "show plate".

Also called	Who uses it
Service plate	Merriam-Webster's headword; the Emily Post Institute ("Service Plate: This large plate, also called a charger"); Etiquette Scholar; Hill 1906, Allen 1915, Eichler and Post 1927; the US Navy manuals; Gottsman, Youst, Lenox ("sometimes called a service plate"), Restaurantware and EHL ("also known as service plates")^{1, 6, 9, 11, 20, 23, 35, 78, 95, 98, 99, 101, 103}
Place plate	Emily Post 1922 (her only word for it), Hill, Allen, Eichler, the Navy's 1976 manual, Etiquette Scholar, Gottsman 2015 and Southern Lady ("A charger, also called a place plate"); Webster's New International Dictionary (2nd edition, 1934), in a search fragment: "place plate. = SERVICE PLATE."^{6, 9, 12, 86, 95, 98, 99, 100, 103}
Underplate, under plate	The Emily Post Institute (it "serves as an underplate"), Merriam-Webster's definition, Gottsman, Youst, Restaurantware, and Villeroy & Boch's page title for its Boston charger^{1, 10, 11, 23, 43, 78}
Cover plate	Etiquette Scholar and Gottsman 2015^{6, 9}
Lay plate	Etiquette Scholar only⁶
Buffet plate	Etiquette Scholar and Gottsman 2015^{6, 9}
Chop plate	Gottsman 2015 and WebstaurantStore ("Also known as service plates, under plates, or chop plates"); a rental catalogue lists charger-sized china as chop plates. A 1944 House Beautiful advertisement sells a 14 in (36 cm, ours) "Large chop plate" and a 10¾ in (27 cm, ours) "Service plate" as two different pieces, and our plates guide treats a chop plate as a round platter^{9, 24, 31, 102}
Base plate	A hotel training site's restaurant procedure²²
Cold dinner plate	Cole's Expert Waitress, 1911⁹⁶
Assiette de présentation, sous-assiette	French: Denis Courtiade, maître d'hôtel, 2019 ("assiette de présentation, appelée également sous-assiette")²¹
Liner (the exception)	Southern Lady's etiquette column is the one source we read that says a service plate is NOT a charger: "A service plate, also called a liner, is used under soup cups or bowls and under dessert bowls. A service plate is smaller than a charger and has no standard size." Better Homes and Gardens (1986 by our count, from a search fragment) used the word the other way: "glass liners (also called service plates or chargers)"^{12, 105}

A brushed-gold charger plate with a plain white rimmed plate centred on it, a wide ring of gold showing all the way round, holding a small salad of dressed leaves, frisée and thin slices of pink radish — **The charger's job:** a first course on its own plate, set on the charger, with a ring of gold showing round it (an illustration from our plates guide).

The tally

Charger plate size: 30 products side by side, in inches and cm

Every charger we read with a printed size, from the maker's own page or a dedicated shop's page for the maker's product, with the size exactly as printed. The other unit is our conversion. The first 8 are five chargers whose maker also prints a dinner plate (paired in the rim table below) and three more for spread: a metric glass one, the charger shop's beaded glass one and a pewter one; the other 22 open under "Show all".

Maker and charger	Material	Size as printed	Other unit
HF Coors, Mimbreno³⁸	vitrified ceramic	"12-inch"	30.5 cm, ours
Wedgwood, Gio Gold octagonal³⁹	bone china, gold band	width "33.1 cm"	13.03 in, ours
Villeroy & Boch, Boston⁴³	crystal glass	"Ø32 cm"	12.60 in, ours
Jay Imports (Jay Companies), ChargeIt by Jay Gold Beaded Clear Glass⁴⁸	glass	13"	33.0 cm, ours
Juliska, Berry & Thread Scalloped⁵⁰	ceramic	13.5"	34.3 cm, ours
MATCH Pewter, Convivio⁵²	pewter	"13.4" DIA"	34.0 cm, ours
VIETRI, Campagna Cavallo⁵⁴	earthenware	"12""	30.5 cm, ours
Mariposa, Alabaster White⁵⁵	not printed	"13" L x 13" W"	33.0 cm, ours

Show all 30 chargers (22 more)

Maker and charger	Material	Size as printed	Other unit
Wedgwood, Anthemion Blue⁴⁰	bone china, gold band	"30.0 cm"	11.81 in, ours
Wedgwood, Mythical Creatures⁴⁰	bone china, gold band	"31.35 cm"	12.34 in, ours
Villeroy & Boch, For Me⁴⁴	porcelain	"Ø31.9 cm"	12.56 in, ours
Libbey (Nachtmann), Samba⁴⁷	glass	"12 5/8" in the title, "12 3/5 in." in the spec line	32.1 cm, ours
Ten Strawberry Street, Lacquer Gold Beaded⁴⁹	acrylic	13"	33.0 cm, ours
Jay Imports (Jay Companies), ChargeIt by Jay Silver Tiled⁴⁸	melamine	13"	33.0 cm, ours
Jay Imports (Jay Companies), Beveled round mirror⁴⁹	glass (mirror)	13"	33.0 cm, ours
Jay Imports (Jay Companies), Brown pine faux wood⁴⁹	melamine	13"	33.0 cm, ours
Jay Imports (Jay Companies), Gold Baroque "Acrylic"⁴⁹	polypropylene (its spec line)	13"	33.0 cm, ours
Juliska, Pewter Stoneware⁵⁰	ceramic (pewter is the glaze colour)	14.0"	35.6 cm, ours
Juliska, Willa⁵⁰	ceramic	14.0"	35.6 cm, ours
Juliska, Classic Bamboo⁵⁰	ceramic	14.0"	35.6 cm, ours
Juliska, Bilbao⁵¹	mango wood	14.0"	35.6 cm, ours
Juliska, Rustic Rope⁵¹	woven ("Made of: Wood")	15.0"	38.1 cm, ours
Arte Italica, Peltro⁵³	pewter	"13 inches"	33.0 cm, ours
Arte Italica, Vetro Gold⁵³	glass, hand-painted gold	"12.5 inches"	31.8 cm, ours
Arte Italica, Florentino⁵³	wood	"13 inches"	33.0 cm, ours
Arte Italica, Finezza Cream⁵³	ceramic	"13 inches"	33.0 cm, ours
VIETRI, Rufolo Glass⁵⁴	glass	"12.75""	32.4 cm, ours
Sertodo Copper, Thessaly⁵⁶	copper	"13 inch"	33.0 cm, ours
Kouboo, La Jolla⁵⁷	rattan, lacquered	"12.5 inches" (centre "8.75 inches")	31.8 cm, ours
Slateplate, Charger/Large Plate⁵⁸	slate	"12x12" (square)	30.5 cm, ours

What the tally says (ours)

13 in is common, not universal: of the 30 charger products we read with a printed size, 12 are 13 in (33 cm), 7 are larger and 11 smaller. The range runs from 30.0 cm (11.81 in, ours; Wedgwood Anthemion Blue) to 15 in (38 cm, ours; Juliska Rustic Rope); the middle of the list is 13 in (33 cm).
The two makers that print centimetres land at or below 13 in (33 cm): Villeroy & Boch's 31.9 and 32 cm and Wedgwood's 30.0 and 31.35 cm are 11.8 to 12.6 in (ours); only Wedgwood's octagonal Gio Gold, 33.1 cm across, reaches 13.^{39, 40, 43, 44}
One maker, two figures: Libbey prints "12 5/8" in the title and "12 3/5 in." in the specification of the same charger (32.1 and 32.0 cm, ours).⁴⁷

Three round gold charger plates, small, medium and large, side by side on cream linen, seen from directly above, each with an empty white plate centred on it: the ring of gold round the plate widens from left to right — **A white plate on three charger sizes:** the larger the charger, the wider the ring. An illustration; the drawing below is to scale.

What buyers' guides, a rental catalogue and etiquette sources call the usual size

These are not products, so they are kept apart from the tally above. The rental catalogue's line is its own count, not added to the 30.

Source	Size it gives
Bright Rentals catalogue³¹ event rental	Of 20 items named charger, 16 are 13 in (33 cm), 3 are 12 in (30 cm), 1 is 13.5 in (34 cm) (count and cm ours)
WebstaurantStore, Types of Plates (2024)²⁵ restaurant-supply seller	"The standard charger plate size is 13" in diameter" (33 cm, ours)
CV Linens (undated blog)²⁸ event-linen retailer	"The most common size is 13 inches in diameter, but other sizes, like 12 inches or 14 inches, are also available" (30 to 36 cm, ours)
HF Coors, commercial range³⁷ ceramic maker	"12 inch and 13 inch diameters" (30 and 33 cm, ours)
Lenox, charger guide³⁵ tableware maker	"Most charger plates measure between 11 and 14 inches"; buy "12 inches or more" (28 to 36 cm, ours)
Lenox, dinner-plate guide³⁶ tableware maker	"typically measure 12 to 14 inches" (30 to 36 cm, ours)
Etiquette Scholar⁶ etiquette website	"ranging in size from 11 to 14 inches across" (28 to 36 cm, ours)
Von Drachenfels (2000), via Wikipedia³⁴ tableware book, read second-hand	11 to 14 in with an 8 to 9 in well (28 to 36 cm; 20 to 23 cm, ours)
KaTom²⁷ restaurant supply	Round "11 to 13", square "11-12" in (28 to 33 and 28 to 30 cm, ours)
Nisbets²⁶ UK catering supplier	"typically up to 14”" (36 cm, ours)
Southern Lady¹² magazine etiquette column	"The standard size for a charger is 12 inches" (30 cm, ours)
Emily Post's Etiquette (2004)⁷ etiquette book, search fragment	"usually twelve inches" (30 cm, ours)
Emily Post Institute (today)¹ etiquette authority	No size given, in what we read

How much bigger than the dinner plate? No source gives a rule

No etiquette authority, maker or trade body we read publishes a rim rule for the dinner plate. Etiquette Scholar's "a surround of no less than one inch" is about the appetizer plate on a formal service plate, not the dinner plate.⁶ Lenox says buy chargers that "measure 12 inches or more so they create a proper frame" (30 cm, ours);³⁵ Nisbets asks for "a suitable difference in size between your dinner plate and charger, along with the ability to lift and remove dinner plates easily during service", with no number.²⁶ The one numeric rule we found contradicts itself on a single retailer page: "A one to two-inch border around the dinner plate is ideal" (2.5 to 5 cm a side, so a charger 2 to 4 in, 5 to 10 cm, wider; ours), and chargers "should be 1-2 inches larger than your dinner plates" (2.5 to 5 cm wider, a border of only 0.5 to 1 in, 1.3 to 2.5 cm; ours).²⁹ What makers do instead: the pairs below, where the same maker prints both plates.

Same-maker pair	Charger	Dinner plate	Rim each side (ours)
HF Coors Mimbreno³⁸	12 in (30.5 cm, ours)	10.5 in (26.7 cm, ours)	0.75 in (1.9 cm)
HF Coors 13 in charger, American White dinner plate^{37, 38}	13 in (33.0 cm, ours)	10 1/2 in (26.7 cm, ours)	1.25 in (3.2 cm)
Wedgwood Gio Gold³⁹	33.1 cm (octagon width)	28.32 cm	2.39 cm (0.94 in)
Juliska Berry & Thread⁵⁰	13.5 in (34.3 cm, ours)	11.0 in (27.9 cm, ours)	1.25 in (3.2 cm)
VIETRI Campagna Cavallo⁵⁴	12 in (30.5 cm, ours)	10 in (25.4 cm, ours)	1 in (2.5 cm)
Mariposa Alabaster⁵⁵	13 in (33.0 cm, ours)	11 in (27.9 cm, ours)	1 in (2.5 cm)
Slateplate (square)⁵⁸	12 x 12 in (30.5 cm, ours)	10 x 10 in (25.4 cm, ours)	1 in (2.5 cm), if its 10x10 "Salad/Dining Plate" is the dinner plate

12, 13 and 14 in chargers under a 10.5 in (27 cm) dinner plate, to one scale: drawn by us. The sizes are from the tally; 10.5 in (27 cm) is HF Coors's dinner plate and the "standard" in WebstaurantStore's and Nisbets's guides.^{25, 26, 38}

Our reading, labelled ours: same-maker pairs leave 0.75 in to 1.25 in (1.9 cm to 3.2 cm) of charger on each side, so a ring of about an inch is what the makers themselves sell together. If your dinner plates are 10.5 in (27 cm), a 12 in (30 cm) charger leaves 0.75 in (1.9 cm) and a 13 in (33 cm) one 1.25 in (3.2 cm) a side. Measure your dinner plate before you buy.

Charger plate insert size

Few makers print the centre. Kouboo gives its rattan charger "Diameter at center 8.75 inches" (22 cm, ours);⁵⁷ Wikipedia, citing Suzanne Von Drachenfels's The Art of the Table (2000), gives service plates an 8 to 9 in (20 to 23 cm, ours) well, and antique ones 9 in (23 cm, ours) across with a 6 to 6.5 in (15 to 17 cm, ours) well.³⁴ A 10.5 in (27 cm) dinner plate is wider than either centre, so it rests on the rim, not in the well (our arithmetic).

Charger plates for square dishes

KaTom lists chargers as "Round or square", square ones 11 to 12 in (28 to 30 cm, ours);²⁷ CV Linens says round chargers under square plates "do work" but gives no size.³⁰ No source we read does the geometry, so this is ours: a square plate is about 1.41 times as wide corner to corner as side to side, so a 10 in (25 cm) square plate spans 14.1 in (36 cm) across its corners and overhangs a 13 in (33 cm) round charger; it fits inside only if its side is under 9.2 in (23 cm). On a square charger it is plain subtraction: a 12 in (30 cm) charger round a 10 in (25 cm) plate leaves 1 in (2.5 cm) a side.

The tally

When to remove charger plates: every source we read, side by side

All 28 books and pages we read that say when the charger (service plate, place plate) leaves the table, each in its own words with its date. They fall into four groups: A as guests sit, B with the soup or first-course plate, C exchanged for the main-course plate, and D left under the dinner plate and cleared after the main. With no fish course (first course, soup, main), B and C are the same moment. The first 12 rows are the ones a reader is most likely to meet, with both pages of each publisher that contradicts itself; the other 16 open under "Show all".

Source	When it leaves, in its words	Group
Emily Post, Etiquette¹⁰⁰ 1922, ch. XIV; etiquette book	"when the soup plate is removed, the underneath plate is removed with it, and a hot plate immediately exchanged for the two taken away" (her hot plate is for the fish)	B
Boston Cooking-School Magazine, Query 1757⁹⁷ 1911 to 1912 volume; magazine	with expert service it "may be removed with the soup plate. With less expert service the place plate remains before the guest until the removal of the last course before the sweets, when both plates are removed together"	B, D
US Navy, Mess Management Specialist 3 & 2¹⁰³ 1976, ch. 10; service manual	"not removed until replaced by the heated dinner plate for the first hot course after the soup"	B
Emily Post Institute, The Formal Place Setting¹ undated, read 2026; etiquette authority	it stays for courses such as soup "until the plate holding the entrée is served, at which point the two plates are exchanged"	C
Emily Post Institute, Thanksgiving Table Setting Guides² 26 November 2025; etiquette authority	"It is removed before the main course is served."	C
Lenox, Dinner Plate Sizes³⁶ undated, read 2026; maker	"removed before the main course is served"	C
Lenox, What Is a Charger Plate³⁵ undated, read 2026; maker	"Chargers should be removed before dessert, usually after the entrée course."	D
Martha Stewart, Setting the Table 101¹⁴ earlier reading, October 2026; magazine	"cleared along with the bowl or plate" of the first course	B
Martha Stewart, formal dinner table¹³ earlier reading, October 2026; magazine	"taken away once everyone spreads their napkin on their lap"	A
Gottsman, What Is a Charger Plate¹⁰ 14 November 2022; consultant or columnist	"removed either before the main course is served or, if preferred, taken away when removing the dinner plate after the meal, before dessert"; "(I prefer to remove it before the main course.)"	C (preferred), D
Restaurantware²³ undated, read 2026; trade	"Remove the underplate after the main course is finished", "ideally with the dinner plate still resting on it"	D
WebstaurantStore, What Is a Charger Plate?²⁴ 16 October 2023; trade	"always removed from the table after all guests are finished eating the main entree", "with the dinner plate still on top"	D

Show all 28 sources (16 more)

Source	When it leaves, in its words	Group
Good Housekeeping⁹³ November 1902, p. 319 area; magazine	"left on the table until carried away with the fish or the first hot course after the soup"	B
Boston Cooking-School Magazine⁹⁴ 1903 to 1904 volume; magazine	after the soup the hostess removes "the service plates, holding the soup plates"	B
Hill, The Up-to-Date Waitress⁹⁵ 1906, pp. 52, 61 to 64; service manual	kept under the oysters, soup, fish and entrée, then "take up the service plate with the croquette plate upon it and set down the plate of turkey"	C
Cole, The Expert Waitress⁹⁶ 1911, pp. 26 to 27; service manual	the soup goes on the "cold dinner plate"; then "exchange the cold plate for the fish plate"	B
Allen, Table Service⁹⁸ 1915, pp. [24] to [86]; service manual	it "remains upon the table until it is necessary to replace it with a hot plate": "Remove soup and service plates together"	B
Eichler, The Book of Etiquette⁹⁹ 1921 (1922 printing), pp. 102 to 103; etiquette book	"It remains at its place until the serving of the main course"; "Before serving the main course, this place plate is removed"	C
Emily Post, The Blue Book of Social Usage¹⁰¹ 1927 (1929 printing), pp. 200 to 201; etiquette book	the 1922 words, unchanged	B
US Navy, Mess Management Specialist 3¹⁰⁴ May 1990, ch. 10; service manual	formal: the 1976 words; semiformal: it leaves with "the used china (including the service plate and silverware)" of the first course	B
Etiquette Scholar⁶ undated, read 2026; etiquette website	"At the end of the soup course, the service plate and soup plate are cleared together"	B
EHL Hospitality Insights (Vauclair)²⁰ 16 September 2025; hospitality school	"typically removed just before the main course is served"	C
Gottsman, What Is a Service Plate?⁹ 12 February 2015; consultant or columnist	"most hosts remove it from the table when the main meal is served"; "some hosts" leave it "until the dessert course"	C (preferred), D
Youst, Respectfully Yours¹¹ 12 August 2022 (re-run 29 December 2024); consultant or columnist	"some hosts remove it before any food is served. More commonly, charger plates are kept on the table during the serving of soup, first courses and the entrée", and removed before dessert	D (preferred), A
Southern Lady, Etiquette Q&A¹² undated, read 2026; magazine	"The dinner plate is placed on top of the charger." (no time to remove it given)	D
CV Linens²⁸ undated, read 2026; trade	"typically removed after the main course is served but can remain on the table as part of the decor"	D
Courtiade, Plaza Athénée (French restaurant)²¹ 26 August 2019; trade	each plate goes on it and it is removed only when desserts are served; a sculptural one moments after guests sit (our glosses of his French)	D (preferred), A
Wikipedia, Charger (table setting)³³ revision of 11 September 2026; encyclopedia	some caterers remove it "as soon as the guests are seated", some leave it all meal; its unsourced Europe section removes it with the soup bowl; "always removed before serving desserts" (its only citation a dead 2011 retailer page)	A, B, E

Where each group takes the charger away: drawn by us from the table. A source that gives two options counts in both groups. E (1, Wikipedia: on the table all meal, removed before dessert) is not drawn.

Where they split (ours, from the table)

B, with the soup (12 sources): 9 of the 11 rows printed in 1990 or earlier, from Good Housekeeping in 1902 through Emily Post's 1922 and 1927 books to the US Navy's 1976 and 1990 manuals, take the plate away with the soup plate, before the first hot course after the soup.^{93, 100, 101, 103, 104} Etiquette Scholar says the same today.⁶
C, at the main (8 sources): the Emily Post Institute today, in two pages, exchanges it for the main-course plate, as Hill did in 1906 and Eichler in 1921; EHL and one Lenox guide say the same.^{1, 2, 20, 36, 95, 99}
D, after the main (10 sources): among today's sources only trade and catering pages, a maker, a shop, a Paris maître d'hôtel, Southern Lady's magazine column (which puts the dinner plate on the charger but gives no time to clear it) and two etiquette consultants or columnists leave it under the dinner plate; all 9 of those rows are dated 2015 or later or are undated web pages read in 2026.^{10, 11, 23, 24, 35} The habit is older than that: in 1911 to 1912 the Boston Cooking-School Magazine gave both rules in one answer, the early exit for "expert service" and the late one "With less expert service", so both of today's rules are over a century old.⁹⁷
A, as guests sit (4 sources): Martha Stewart's formal-dinner page ("taken away once everyone spreads their napkin on their lap"), the caterers in Wikipedia's article, the "some hosts" Youst sets against the more common practice, and Courtiade for a sculptural plate that can hold nothing.^{11, 13, 21, 33}
Dessert: of the 28 sources we read, none tells you to keep the charger for dessert. Post 1922 sets the dessert plates "down on the tablecloth"; at the Navy's dessert "the only items remaining from the original setting are the water and wine glasses".^{100, 104} "Throughout the meal" in Youst and Wikipedia still ends before dessert; CV Linens alone says it "can remain on the table as part of the decor", without saying until when.^{11, 28, 33}
Same publisher, two answers: Lenox says "removed before the main course" in one guide and "removed before dessert, usually after the entrée course" in another; Martha Stewart's two pages give A and B. We show both of each and pick neither.^{13, 14, 35, 36}

Debrett's, the White House Historical Association and a hotel training procedure describe chargers or service plates but give no clearing time.^{5, 22, 112} The authorities we could not read (Amy Vanderbilt's and Letitia Baldrige's books, Miss Manners, the hospitality textbooks that are lending-only scans) are not in the table: every summary on this page is "in what we read".

Our recommendation for a home table (ours)

Follow the Emily Post Institute's current rule: the charger holds the plates of the opening courses, and when the main course arrives the charger and the plate on it go out together and the main-course plate comes in.^{1, 2} It is the rule of the one etiquette institute in the table, published under its own name and dated; it keeps the old manuals' principle (a plate in front of every guest, no used plate swapped for another), and on a menu without a fish course it agrees with the soup-plate rule too. If you prefer the restaurant and catering habit, leave it under the dinner plate and clear the two together after the main, before dessert.^{23, 24} Either way, take it away before dessert.

One hand lifts away a textured gold charger with an empty white soup plate and its spoon still on it, while a white plate waits on the tablecloth beside the place; a candlelit formal dining room softly out of focus behind, and no face in the frame — **The charger leaving with the empty soup plate on it, the dinner plate waiting:** B and C at once, on a menu with no fish course. An illustration, not a dinner we served.

What goes on a charger, and what never does

On it: the plate of the first course (Emily Post Institute); the soup plate or bouillon cup (Post 1922, Allen 1915, the Navy); fruit, oysters and soup in their dishes (Navy 1976); salad plates and soup bowls (Emily Post Institute, Thanksgiving 2025); the napkin before the meal; menu cards (Restaurantware).^{1, 2, 23, 98, 100, 103}
Never, today: food straight on it. "Food is never placed directly on a service plate" (Etiquette Scholar); "No food is placed directly on the service plate" (US Navy); "Never serve food directly on the charger" (Lenox); "not meant to come in direct contact with food" (Youst); Gottsman and Martha Stewart say the same. Restaurantware: not unless it is food-safe.^{6, 9, 11, 14, 23, 35, 103}
But not always: in 1906 Hill put celery, olives and bread straight on the service plate, and Post 1922 let a cold course offered in bulk be "eaten on the place plate"; Vanderbilt (1968) used place plates for buffets and first courses. Those were china plates, so the "never" is today's rule, not etiquette's for all time (history).^{8, 95, 100}
Off the setting: Gottsman puts a napkin or doily on a charger to pass "tea sandwiches, appetizers, pre-sliced pound cake or small cookies", and Restaurantware the same for passed bites.^{10, 23}

A place setting from above for a soup course: a white charger with a shallow soup plate of orange squash soup swirled with cream, two forks on the left, a knife and a soup spoon on the right, and a water goblet and wine glass at the upper right — **The soup course on a charger:** the soup plate sits on it, never the soup itself (an illustration from our table setting guide).

The napkin and the charger

Source	Where the napkin goes
Good Housekeeping, 1902⁹³	with a bread-and-butter plate in the new Washington fashion, "the napkin is laid squarely on the service plate"
Emily Post, 1922¹⁰⁰	"A dinner napkin folded square and flat is laid on each “place” plate; very fancy foldings are not in good taste"
Emily Post, 1927¹⁰¹	"the napkin ALWAYS is laid on the place plate" (her servantless-house chapter)
Emily Post Institute, formal setting¹	"placed on top of the charger (if one is used) or in the space for the plate. It can also go to the left of the forks, or under the forks if space is tight."
Emily Post Institute, Thanksgiving 2025²	left of the forks and not under them; in its ring in the centre of the setting, "more typical when using a charger"
Emily Post Institute, Table Setting Guides³	"to the left or placed in the center of the charger"
EHL Hospitality Insights, 2025²⁰	"placed on the charger plate, to the left of the forks, or in the center of the dinner plate"
Lenox³⁵	the napkin may go straight on top
Restaurantware²³	"Menu cards, napkins with rings, or small table accents can be placed directly on the underplate before service begins"
Debrett's (UK)⁵	"Napkins should be simply folded or rolled and placed on the side plates"

The Emily Post Institute allows the napkin under the forks "if space is tight" on one page and says not under them on its Thanksgiving page.^{1, 2} A standing fold reads as the centrepiece of a setting on a 13 in (33 cm) charger (ours); Post 1922 wanted it "folded square and flat". Folds that sit on a charger are in our napkin folding guide.

Step by step

How to use charger plates at home

Five steps, each from the named sources; the cutlery around it is in our table setting guide, and the table setting diagram draws the formal setting with a charger for your menu.

Lay it before anyone sits down. The US Navy's service plates "are placed on the table at the time it is set for the meal"; ¹⁰³ Gottsman sets the charger "before guests have arrived" and Southern Lady "before guests are seated".^{10, 12} The Emily Post Institute calls it "an option, not a must", even at a formal table.^{2, 3}
Centre it, about an inch from the edge. About 1 in (2.5 cm) from the table edge in Allen 1915, Lenox ("centered with the chair"), Southern Lady and Restaurantware; "around two inches" (5 cm, ours) in a hotel training procedure; 2 cm (¾ in, ours) for Courtiade in Paris.^{12, 21, 22, 23, 35, 98} A pattern faces the diner: Southern Lady puts "the motif facing the diner", and the hotel procedure turns a logo so "the guest can read" it.^{12, 22} The cutlery goes either side as for any setting: our table setting guide has the order.
Put the napkin on it, or beside the forks. The Emily Post Institute puts the napkin "on top of the charger (if one is used)", or to the left of the forks.¹ Every source's napkin rule is below; folds that sit on a charger are in our napkin folding guide.
Set each opening course on it, on its own plate. The charger "serves as an underplate for the plate holding the first course" (Emily Post Institute);¹ the Navy sets "dishes containing the first courses of the meal, such as … fruit, oysters, and soup" on it;¹⁰³ "a first-course soup bowl or salad plate can be set on top of it" (Martha Stewart).^{13, 14} Today's etiquette sources put no food straight on it (what goes on it).
Take it away when the main course arrives, or with the dinner plate before dessert. In the Emily Post Institute's rule the charger and the plate on it are exchanged for the main-course plate;¹ catering suppliers clear it after the main with the dinner plate on top.^{23, 24} Our pick for a home table, and why, is under when to clear it. Post 1922, Hill and the Navy take plates away from the guest's right; Allen 1915 placed everything from the left and removed plates with the left hand.^{95, 98, 100, 103}

A formal place setting from directly above: a gold charger with a white napkin folded on it, three forks on the left (fish, dinner, salad), a dinner knife, fish knife and soup spoon on the right, a bread plate with a butter spreader at the upper left, a blank place card above the charger, and a water goblet, red wine glass and white wine glass in a short diagonal at the upper right — **Formal, before the guests sit:** the napkin on the charger (from our table setting guide, the layout the diagram tool draws).

A formal place setting on cream linen: a brushed-gold charger plate with a plain white rimmed dinner plate on top and a folded white napkin on it, two forks to the left, a knife and spoon to the right, a small bread plate with a butter knife at the upper left and a wine glass at the upper right — **The dinner plate on the charger:** how the catering order (D) and Southern Lady set it; in the Emily Post Institute's order the charger would have gone by now (from our plates guide).

Food safety

Can you eat off a charger plate? Are charger plates food safe?

It depends on what the charger is made of and what its maker says, not on the word charger. Some makers sell their ceramic chargers as platters; others print "For decorative use only". Unless the maker says yours is food-safe, put the food on a plate, not on the charger (our advice).^{48, 49, 50}

Ceramic, in US law: a decorative ceramic piece that looks usable for food is treated as food ware unless it carries both a stick-on "Not for Food Use" statement and a permanent one on the base (or a hole). An unmarked ceramic charger is held to the plate lead limit.^{60, 61, 62}
With that label: FDA says "Do not use items with this type of warning for cooking, serving, or storing food or drinks."⁶⁴
Glass, plastic, metal, wood, rattan: no such label exists for them in US law; the maker's words are the signal. ChargeIt by Jay sells a 13 in (33 cm) beaded glass charger as "Food safe" and a melamine one of the same size "For decorative purposes only".^{48, 65}
What happens if you eat off one: no agency we read describes one meal, and none says it is safe. The hazard FDA and California's health department describe is lead leaching from glaze or decoration into food, faster with acid, heat and time; "no amount of washing, boiling, or other process can remove lead". Canada, the EU and UK and the Proposition 65 settlement also limit cadmium.^{60, 64, 68, 69, 70, 73}
Gold and platinum: every maker we read that mentions it keeps gold or platinum decoration out of the microwave (Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Villeroy & Boch, Steelite), and FDA says metal pans and foil generally should not go in one.^{41, 42, 45, 46, 66}

Where	The rule, in its words	What it means for a charger
United States: ceramic^{60, 61, 62}	21 CFR 109.16: decorative ceramicware that "appears to be suitable for food use will be considered to be for food use unless" it carries BOTH a conspicuous stick-on statement beginning "Not for Food Use" and a permanent statement on the base, or has a hole bored through the food surface. "For Decorative Purposes Only" may only follow the required statement.	An unmarked ceramic charger first sold from July 1994 on that looks usable is food ware in US law, held to the plate limit of 3.0 µg/mL lead. A base mark alone, or "decorative only" alone, is not the 109.16 label (our reading).
United States: a charger with the label^{63, 64}	"Do not use items with this type of warning for cooking, serving, or storing food or drinks." "Be aware that no amount of washing, boiling, or other process can remove lead from pottery."	A labelled charger is for looking at: food never goes on it (FDA), and a plate on top is our suggestion.
United States: glass, metal, plastic, wood^{60, 65}	109.16 covers ceramics only. For other food-contact materials each substance that can migrate into food must be authorised, and compliance is "the responsibility of the manufacturer".	There is no "Not for Food Use" label for a glass, melamine, acrylic, metal, wood or rattan charger: the maker's own words ("Food safe", "Charger/Platter" against "For decorative use only") are the signal (ours).
United States: what the 1994 rule changed^{61, 62}	The 1994 final rule deleted the old exemption for "nonfood service plates"; FDA's guide lists them as plates made "solely for ornamental display purposes: commemorative plates, souvenir plates, hand-painted plates".	FDA's "service plates" there are display plates, not the table charger: the rule is not a charger rule (ours).
United States: restaurants and caterers (Food Code)⁶⁷	Decorative utensils "such as hand-painted ceramic or china" used with food must meet the lead limits (plates 3.0); "Pewter alloys containing lead in excess of 0.05 percent must not be used as a food-contact surface"; copper and brass not with food "that has a pH below 6, such as vinegar, fruit juice, or wine".	These bind food businesses where the Food Code is adopted, not home hosts.
California (Proposition 65)^{68, 69}	A 2005 Proposition 65 court settlement (binding the companies that settled or opted in; read in a testing lab's August 2005 summary, which calls it tentative) covers decorated glass and ceramic, including "Non-Food/Beverage Glass and Ceramic Products (household products)": decoration lead and cadmium limits, or a warning label. The state health department: tableware below Proposition 65 lead levels "is considered safe to use"; "Cooking or microwaving speeds the lead-leaching process."	A decorated glass charger is a household glass product in this scheme even if it is not sold for food (ours).
Canada⁷⁰	The Glazed Ceramics and Glassware Regulations cover products "completely or partly made of ceramic or glass" with a lead or cadmium coating, glaze or decoration whose food use is "reasonably foreseeable"; flatware may release 3.0 mg/L lead and 0.50 mg/L cadmium. The not-for-food route is a hole or hook, or "DO NOT USE FOR FOOD" in English and French, in capitals at least 3 mm high.	Unlike the US rule, decorated GLASS is covered, and the warning wording differs.
European Union and United Kingdom^{71, 72, 73, 74}	Regulation 1935/2004 covers any material that "can reasonably be expected to be brought into contact with food" (antiques excluded); items sold for food carry "for food contact", a specific use, or the Annex II symbol. Ceramics have their own lead and cadmium limits (a plate in England: 0.8 mg/dm² lead, 0.07 mg/dm² cadmium); plastics fall under Regulation 10/2011.	Food set straight on a charger is plausibly in scope however it was sold; the glass-and-fork symbol (our description of Annex II) on the base or box is the mark to look for. We found no EU or UK "not for food" label (ours).
Australia and New Zealand⁷⁵	FSANZ's page is about packaging: food in contact with it must be safe, and material must be "fit for its intended use".	We found no FSANZ page on tableware or a not-for-food label.

If you are not sure about yours

Look at the base and the box: a US "Not for Food Use" statement means decoration only; in the EU and UK, "for food contact" or the food-contact symbol means it was sold for food; in Canada, "DO NOT USE FOR FOOD".^{60, 70, 71}
Read the maker's page: "Charger/Platter", "serving piece" or "Food safe" against "decorative use only".^{48, 49, 50, 53}
Old, worn or bright pieces: FDA lists antique, worn and brightly decorated pottery ("orange, red, or yellow") as higher-risk, and California's health department warns that decoration you can feel on top of the glaze is more likely to leach.^{64, 68}
Still unsure (ours): treat it as decoration. Set a plate on it, or a napkin or doily as Gottsman and WebstaurantStore do when a charger serves passed food.^{10, 24}

A white charger turned upside down on a pale wooden table, showing its unglazed foot ring and a small blank white sticker on the base, with no writing anywhere; a salad bowl, bread, a dish of oil and a water glass softly behind — **Turn it over:** under 21 CFR 109.16 a decorative ceramic piece sold in the US carries a conspicuous "Not for Food Use" sticker on a visible surface AND a permanent statement fired or moulded into the base, so the base is where to look for that permanent mark, or for a maker's food-safe statement.^{60, 61} An illustration: its blank sticker is not the legal label.

Materials

Charger plate materials and care, maker by maker

What each maker prints about food, washing and the microwave, product line by product line. No material is food-safe or unsafe as a class here: the same seller lists a "Food safe" glass charger and a "decorative use only" melamine one at the same size.

Material	Food, in the maker's words	Washing	Microwave	Care
Bone china, gold band^{39, 40, 41} Wedgwood Gio Gold, Mythical Creatures	Not stated on the charger pages; Wedgwood lays the dinner plate "over the charger"	"Dishwasher-safe"	No: "Microwave safe unless the item has metallic decoration"	Napkins or "protective liners between stacked pieces"
Ceramic, sold as "Charger/Platter"⁵⁰ Juliska Berry & Thread, Pewter Stoneware, Willa, Bamboo	All four titled "Charger/Platter"; Berry & Thread "doubles as an abundant dinner plate or serving platter"; Willa's glazes "All are lead free"	"Dishwasher (avoid high heat)" (Willa: "Dishwasher, Oven, Microwave, and Freezer Safe")	Yes; oven "up to 500 degrees" (260 °C, ours) on three of the four	Freezer safe
Vitrified ceramic³⁷ HF Coors	"FDA compliant for food-contact surfaces", usable as "functional serving plates"; "cadmium-free" in one line, "cadmium varies by glaze" in its spec table	"commercial dishwasher rated"	Not stated; "oven-safe"	-
Hand-painted earthenware⁵⁴ VIETRI Campagna Cavallo	Not stated; titled "Service Plate/Charger"	Dishwasher safe, a non-citrus detergent on the air-dry cycle	Microwave safe	-
Handmade ceramic⁵³ Arte Italica Finezza	Doubles as a serving piece	"Dishwasher safe on low heat setting only"; "Hand washing preferred"	Not stated	"Do not soak"
Glass with gold beads⁴⁸ ChargeIt by Jay, Gold Beaded Clear Glass	"Food safe"	"Hand wash only"	"Not recommended for oven or microwave use"	-
Mirror (glass)⁴⁹ Jay Imports beveled round mirror	"Food safe"; the same page flags a "Prop 65 Warning" that names no chemical	"Hand wash only"	Not for oven or microwave	-
Glass with gold decoration^{53, 54} Arte Italica Vetro Gold; VIETRI Rufolo	Vetro Gold: not stated; Rufolo: tagged "Care: Food Safe"	"Hand wash only"; Rufolo "Do not submerge"	Not stated (see the gold rule below)	-
Glass⁴⁷ Libbey (Nachtmann) Samba	Not stated	"dishwasher-safe"	Not stated	-
Colour-coated glass (a care guide, not a charger page)⁴² Royal Doulton	-	Hand washed separately, no dishwasher	-	Keep "rings, knives, etc." off the painted surface
Melamine^{48, 49} ChargeIt by Jay Silver Tiled; Jay Imports faux wood	"For decorative purposes only"; "For decorative use only"	"Hand wash only"	Not for oven or microwave	-
Polypropylene⁴⁹ Jay Imports Gold Baroque (sold as "Acrylic")	"For decorative use only"	"Hand wash only"	Not for oven or microwave	-
Acrylic^{37, 49} Ten Strawberry Street Lacquer Gold Beaded	No food-use line at all	"Hand wash only"	Not for oven or microwave	HF Coors (a ceramic rival): acrylic and melamine chargers "warp, scratch, and typically require hand washing"
Pewter^{52, 53, 67} MATCH Convivio; Arte Italica Peltro	MATCH: "does not contain lead and is completely food safe"; Peltro: a charger "or a serving piece". Old pewter: the Food Code bars alloys over 0.05% lead from food contact in food businesses	Hand wash, dry completely; Peltro "Wipe clean with a damp cloth"	"Pewter is NOT microwave or oven safe"	Polish optional: "almost any metal polish will do"
Aluminium⁵⁹ Arthur Court Beaded Charger	Remove acidic or salty food promptly "or insert a glass liner for food service"	Never: the polish is "permanently dulled by the high heat of a dishwasher"	Not stated (metal: see below)	Polish with a cotton flannel cloth
Copper^{56, 67} Sertodo Thessaly	Both "passing hors d'oeuvres" and "Designed for decorative use"; the Food Code keeps copper and brass from food below pH 6 in food businesses	Not stated	Not stated (metal: see below)	-
Wood (mango)⁵¹ Juliska Bilbao "Charger/Platter"	Sold as a platter	"Not dishwasher, oven, or microwave safe"; hand wash, "Do not soak"	No	"Mineral oil can be used to restore richness of the wood color"
Rattan and woven^{51, 57} Kouboo La Jolla; Juliska Rustic Rope	No food-contact line on either	Wipe with a damp cloth	-	Kouboo: lacquered rattan, "Do not use as a trivet"
Slate⁵⁸ Slateplate "Charger/Large Plate"	Sealed "with food-safe mineral oil" (the maker's claim)	"dishwasher safe, even under the sterilizing settings"	Not stated	-

Three empty charger plates side by side on cream linen, seen from directly above: a clear glass charger with a rim of small gold beads, a plain grey pewter charger and a plain white porcelain charger, with a fork and knife laid between two of them — **Beaded glass, pewter, porcelain:** an illustration.

Three empty charger plates side by side, seen from directly above: a woven natural rattan charger, a round mango-wood charger with visible grain and a gold-coloured acrylic charger with a beaded rim, a fork and a knife either side and a water glass above — **Rattan, wood, acrylic:** an illustration.

Are charger plates usually plastic, or glass?

A ceramic maker says "Most charger plates used in hospitality are made from acrylic, melamine, or thin stamped metal" (its view of its rivals).³⁷ A dedicated charger shop's material filter counted 49 glass, 23 acrylic, 22 melamine and 13 polypropylene chargers on 26 October 2026.⁴⁸ Lenox lists glass, porcelain or ceramic, metallic, plastic ("Lightweight, safe, and practical for large gatherings") and wood or natural fibre.³⁵

Washing, storing and polishing

Stacking: Wedgwood and Royal Doulton both put napkins or liners between stacked pieces "to prevent scratching".^{41, 42}
Gold or platinum rims: Villeroy & Boch: "Hand washing is recommended; the occasional gentle cycle is fine." Wedgwood sells its gold-banded bone china chargers as dishwasher-safe.^{39, 40, 45}
Painted or coated glass: wash by hand, separately, and keep "rings, knives, etc." off the paint (Royal Doulton).⁴²
Wood: hand wash, "Do not soak or leave unwashed overnight", mineral oil to restore the colour (Juliska).⁵¹
Pewter and aluminium: MATCH pewter "requires almost no maintenance"; Arthur Court's aluminium never goes in a dishwasher.^{52, 59}
Crafted chargers: spray-painted chargers with glued-on trims (CBC Life) and fabric decoupaged with Mod Podge (Blue Sky at Home) are decorative surfaces; a plate goes on top and food never touches them (ours).^{17, 18}

Compared

Charger plate vs placemat: one, the other, or both?

A charger is plate-shaped and "only slightly larger than the average dinner plate, while a placemat takes up more room on the table" (Livingetc); Lenox calls placemats the casual, protective layer and chargers "More formal, decorative bases".^{15, 35} Whether to use both is where the sources split: Debrett's says one or the other, five lay both (one of them with a plate doily, not a placemat), and the Emily Post Institute gives no ruling.

Source	Answer	In its words
Debrett's⁵	Instead	chargers "may be used in preference to table mats"
Etiquette Scholar (informal meals)⁶	The charger as the mat	used "as a dinner plate, buffet plate, placemat, or platter"
Allen, Table Service, 1915⁹⁸	Both	a plate doily, not a placemat: at breakfast on a bare table, "On each doily place the service plate"
Lenox³⁵	Both	"Many hosts actually use both, placemats to add texture and protect the table, and chargers to create a formal, layered look."
Livingetc (2024)¹⁵	Both	"when paired with the best dinnerware sets (and even placemats!)"
EHL Hospitality Insights (2025)²⁰	Both	"layer placemats with chargers or table runners for added depth and interest"
Blue Sky at Home (2023 blog)¹⁸	Both	"I placed the red plaid chargers on our white linen placemats with gold trim."
Emily Post Institute¹	No ruling	place mats "about one to two inches from the edge of the table"; nothing on using them with a charger

Two place settings side by side on a bare light wooden table, seen from directly above: on the left a woven placemat with an empty white plate on it, on the right a gold charger with an empty white plate on it, a fork and knife beside each, and glasses and folded napkins above — **A placemat or a charger under a white plate:** Debrett's picks one; Lenox and EHL layer both. An illustration.

Do you need charger plates? Home tables, buffets, weddings and restaurants

Necessary? No source we read requires one. Cole (1911) said the plate "may be dispensed with" when time and space are short; the Emily Post Institute: "an option, not a must", and its everyday settings leave it out; Lenox: "They're not necessary"; Cambridge's own example sentence doubts they are "essential for a sit-down formal dinner". ^{2, 4, 35, 76, 96}
At home: Debrett's warns that "piling up too many plates at each place setting can look cluttered in a domestic setting".⁵ Etiquette Scholar uses it at an informal meal "in whatever way makes sense".⁶
Buffets: the US Navy leaves the plate off the cover "when American, Cafeteria, buffet style, or ala carte style is used"; without a charger, the Emily Post Institute presets the entrée plate for family-style or buffet service; Vanderbilt (1968) said most owners of place plates used them "for buffet service". No authority we read rules on leaving chargers at the places at a buffet. Laying a buffet line is in our buffet table guide.^{2, 8, 103}
Weddings: Inside Weddings recommends chargers as the decorative layer for "a buffet or a multi-course sit-down service": "As your guests will not be eating from them, you can select chargers made from a variety of materials". One US rental catalogue lists 20 chargers, 16 of them 13 in (33 cm).^{16, 31}
Restaurants and catering: a hotel procedure uses the "base plate" as "an underliner for cocktails and starter courses"; Courtiade's Paris dining room leaves it until dessert; WebstaurantStore calls chargers "a key feature of fine dining, banquets, and weddings". ^{21, 22, 24} At the White House, service plates are named in the Wilson (1918), Truman (1951), Johnson (1968), Reagan (1981), Clinton (2000) and Obama (2015) services we read about, plus Mamie Eisenhower's 1955 set of gold service plates (history).

A round wedding reception table with a white cloth: at each place a silver beaded charger with a white plate and a folded white napkin on it, glasses above each plate, a white flower centrepiece with candles in the middle, and empty chairs in an empty candlelit room behind — **Chargers at a reception table:** the decorative layer under each dinner plate. An illustration.

Styling

Charger plates for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Everything in this section is opinion: a maker's, a stylist's, a blogger's or an etiquette house's, each labelled. The big home magazines (Martha Stewart, House Beautiful, Better Homes & Gardens and others) refused our reader, so their current styling pages are not here (Martha Stewart appears only through earlier readings of its table-setting pages, and Better Homes and Gardens once, through a 1986 search fragment). The one named authority we found on how the charger should relate to the china is Amy Vanderbilt in 1968: "The place plate is always different from the rest of the china, but it should go well with it."⁸

Charger plates for Thanksgiving

Source	Use one, or skip it?
Emily Post Institute (2025)² etiquette authority	"The charger is an option, not a must."
Adorno (2026)³² design shop	"Skip the charger, keep the side plate. Chargers take 12 inches of width you need for serving dishes" (30 cm, ours)
EHL Hospitality Insights (2025)²⁰ hospitality school blog	no charger rule; for Thanksgiving, "embrace autumn colors such as orange, brown, and gold"
Lenox³⁵ maker	no Thanksgiving line; its general pairing: "Wooden chargers with stoneware bowls for a rustic, cozy vibe."

The full Thanksgiving table, settings and centrepiece is our Thanksgiving tablescape hub. Our suggestion (ours): use chargers when the main course is plated in the kitchen and the table has room; on a crowded family-style table they take the width the platters need, as Adorno says.

A Thanksgiving place setting: a woven rattan charger, a cream stoneware dinner plate on it, a rust-orange linen napkin on the plate with dried wheat tied on with twine, silver cutlery either side, a water glass, and mini pumpkins and candles softly out of focus behind, with a second place setting at the top of the frame — **Rattan under stoneware, in autumn colours:** EHL's "orange, brown, and gold" and Lenox's rustic pairing. An illustration.

Overhead formal Thanksgiving place setting: a brass charger with a white soup plate, napkin and dinner fork to the left, knife and soup spoon to the right, bread plate with butter knife upper left, dessert spoon and fork above, water and wine glasses upper right, and a blank place card — **Formal, for soup, the main and pie:** the charger and soup plate leave together before the main (from our Thanksgiving hub).

Charger plates for Christmas: gold, red, green, silver

Gold is named in all six rows of the table below; red comes second, and silver is the "modern" option. Not every Christmas source goes gold: CBC Life's craft chargers are pink, turquoise and silver, and Blue Sky at Home's are red plaid.^{17, 18}

Source	Colours
Debrett's⁵ etiquette authority	"red and green is traditional, but you might opt for the metallic glow of silver or gold"
EHL Hospitality Insights²⁰ hospitality school blog	"red, green, and gold are always in style. For a modern twist, consider silver and blue."
Isabel Jackson, in Livingetc¹⁵ interior designer, magazine	"deep reds and golds" or "silver and frosty whites"
Lenox³⁵ maker	"Gold chargers with white plates for a formal holiday look."
White House Historical Association¹¹⁷ historical association	its 2025 Christmas ornament shows the Reagan service plate, "a wide scarlet red border embellished with gold cross-hatching"
Between Naps on the Porch¹⁹ blog	red-and-gold and green-and-gold braided glass chargers among her Christmas sets

Pairing a plate with a charger: Lenox: "Gold chargers with white plates", and "chargers should complement, not overpower"; Between Naps: a white charger "goes with many dish patterns", and darker woven ones for "patterns that need that darker base or background".^{19, 35}
Contrast, labelled ours: our plate colour pairing tool rests on one idea, that a plate is a background that works by differing from what sits on it. Applied one layer out, the charger is the plate's background: a white plate reads against gold, wood or deep green and disappears on a white or clear charger. That is our reasoning, not a published rule.
Centrepieces: Lenox: chargers "act like frames, drawing the eye to your floral arrangements or candle displays"; Better Homes and Gardens once put a small bouquet on a glass charger at each place instead of one centrepiece.^{35, 105} We found no named source for charger wreaths.
Napkins: the Christmas tree and bishop's hat folds sit on the plate or charger; the steps are in our napkin folding guide, and the whole table is our Christmas table setting hub. The table setting diagram draws a formal place with a charger.

A Christmas place setting seen from directly above, on a cream linen runner across a wooden table: a plain gold charger, a white dinner plate on it, a red cloth napkin on the plate with a sprig of rosemary and red berries tied on with twine, two forks on the left, a knife and spoon on the right and two glasses above — **Gold, white and red:** Lenox's gold-under-white with Debrett's traditional red. An illustration.

A green cloth napkin folded into a tiered Christmas tree shape with four stacked layers and a pointed base, a single star anise at the top, lying on a white plate on a gold charger — **The Christmas tree fold on a plate on a gold charger:** from our napkin folding guide.

Are charger plates out of style?

Only one source answers it outright, a seller of chargers: WebstaurantStore says they are "not out of style". A maker and a shopping article lean the same way; Debrett's adds a caution for home tables, and Vanderbilt in 1968 already saw place plates moving to buffets. No verdict of ours beyond this: at a home table, one charger per place with nothing else stacked under it avoids Debrett's "cluttered" (ours).

Source	In or out?
WebstaurantStore (2023)²⁴ seller of chargers	"charger plates themselves are not out of style"; still "a key feature of fine dining, banquets, and weddings"
Lenox³⁵ maker	"They're not necessary, but they absolutely enhance the outfit"
Livingetc (2024)¹⁵ shopping article	"The design is timeless"
Adorno (2026)³² design shop	for Thanksgiving, "Skip the charger"
Debrett's⁵ etiquette authority	"Fashionable chargers", but too many plates "can look cluttered in a domestic setting"
Amy Vanderbilt (1968)⁸ etiquette authority, historical	"with highly formal service almost impossible, most people who have place plates like to use them for buffet service"

Words and history

Why is it called a charger plate? The word, and the service plate's history

Charger comes from the Anglo-French chargeour, from charger, to load: in English it first meant a large dish or platter, "for carrying a large joint of meat" in the first OED (1893).^{79, 81} Etymonline gives a Norman-French chargeoir, "place where goods are loaded"; Merriam-Webster notes that the dish sense "appears not to have a parallel on the continent".^{79, 82} The earliest evidence in the revised OED is "from around 1390"; the first OED dates that poem c1305, and the Older Scots dictionary gives the English word the same date.^{80, 81, 83} The earliest "charger plates" we found are Scots: "Twa greit chargar plaittis of pwider" (two great charger plates of pewter) in a 1568 Edinburgh will; the Older Scots dictionary files a 1548 Edinburgh record, "the best chargeour seruice plaite", under the same use.⁸³

The Baptist's head: the Wycliffite Bible put it "in a disch"; Tyndale's New Testament has "platter" in Matthew but "charger" in Mark (1526); the Geneva Bible kept that split; the King James Bible (1611) has charger in both.^{88, 89, 90, 91}

Not Old English, and not for whole pigs: WebstaurantStore's history calls chargeour an "Old English word" (it is Middle English, from Anglo-French), says the plates carried "whole roasted pigs" (the first OED says "a large joint of meat") and spells the Latin root "carricane" (the Late Latin behind the verb charge is carricare, "to load a wagon or cart", in Etymonline).^{24, 79, 81, 82}

When the plate under your plate became a charger: before that it was the service plate (Good Housekeeping, 1902) or the place plate (Post, 1922); Webster's 1934 dictionary, in a search fragment, made them one: "place plate. = SERVICE PLATE."^{86, 93, 100} The earliest "charger" for it we found is a 1986 Better Homes and Gardens line, "glass liners (also called service plates or chargers)", from a search fragment; in 1998 Gourmet wrote, in another fragment, "service plates, or "chargers" (as they are often marketed)".^{105, 107} An earlier use may exist: the search returns only top hits.

A very large antique pewter charger, a round dish with a broad flat rim, dull grey with soft wear and fine scratches, standing upright on a dark wooden dresser shelf beside a smaller pewter plate — **An antique pewter charger:** a serving dish, not an under-plate. The Pewter Society's collectors call only pieces over 18 in (46 cm, ours) chargers, and say pewterers themselves "rarely used" the word; the V&A's 1662 charger is 569 mm (22.4 in, ours) across, and the Met's pewter chargers run 17 to 20½ in (43 to 52 cm), so museums use the word more loosely. An illustration.^{109, 110, 111}

The service plate, dated

Year	What we found
c1305 or c1390	"I was þat cheef chargeour", says the Cross in a Middle English poem: a dish that bore a body. The first OED (1893) dates it c1305, and the Older Scots dictionary gives the English word the same date; the revised OED's earliest evidence is "from around 1390". We show both, as the dictionaries give them.^{80, 81, 83, 87}
1478	Scots: "vj pewder dischis, iiij gret pewder chargeouris".⁸³
1512	An English Act lists "Tin or Pewter .. in Platters, Chargers, Dishes, Saucers" (quoted in the first OED).⁸¹
1526	Tyndale's Mark: "in a charger the head of Ihon baptist"; his Matthew says "platter". The Wycliffite Bible had "disch".⁹¹⁸⁸
1548 and 1568	The Older Scots dictionary's first use of charger with plate, in an Edinburgh burgh record on tin ware: "the best chargeour seruice plaite"; in 1568 an Edinburgh will lists "Twa greit chargar plaittis of pwider", the earliest "charger plates" we found.⁸³
1599	The Geneva Bible keeps Tyndale's split: Matthew "platter", Mark "charger".⁸⁹
1611	The King James Bible: "Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger", in both gospels.⁹⁰
1662	An English pewter display charger, 569 mm (22.4 in, ours) across: "principally intended as display objects and show little sign of use".¹⁰⁹
1755	Johnson's Dictionary: "A large dish".⁸⁴
1828	Webster: "A large dish", with no under-plate sense.⁸⁵
1884 to 1887	Sherwood's butler puts "a plate" at each place "large enough to hold the majolica plate with the oysters": the under-plate at work, with no name.⁹²
1893	The first OED: "A large plate or flat dish for carrying a large joint of meat; a platter". No under-plate sense.⁸¹
1902	Good Housekeeping's service plate is "usually a ten-inch plate"; the White House service plate Wedgwood made about then is 263 mm (10.4 in, ours).^{93, 108}
1903 to 1904	A family dinner served by the hostess herself: covers of "service plate, dinner size (these may be omitted)".⁹⁴
1906	Hill: service plates "ten inches in diameter"; celery and olives are put straight on it.⁹⁵
1911 to 1912	A reader asks when place plates leave. The answer gives both of today's rules: with the soup plate under expert service, before "the sweets" under less expert service.⁹⁷
1918	Woodrow Wilson's Lenox state service, with a service plate: "the first American-made state service".^{112, 113}
1922	Emily Post calls it the place plate; a cold course offered in bulk "would have been eaten on the place plate".¹⁰⁰
1934	Webster's second edition (a search fragment): "place plate. = SERVICE PLATE."⁸⁶
1944	A House Beautiful advertisement sells a "Service plate. 10¾ ins." (27 cm, ours) beside a 14 in (36 cm, ours) chop plate.¹⁰²
1951	Truman's Lenox service plate, "a heavy gold rim and celadon-green border".^{112, 114}
1955	Mamie Eisenhower adds "120 gold service plates" to the Truman china; the Kennedys used them too.¹¹²
1968	Amy Vanderbilt: the place plate "is always different from the rest of the china, but it should go well with it", and now serves buffets and first courses. The Johnson service (1968 to 72) has a service plate.^{8, 115}
1981	The Reagan service plate: a scarlet border with gold cross-hatching.¹¹⁷
1986	"glass liners (also called service plates or chargers)" in Better Homes and Gardens: the earliest "charger" for the under-plate we found, from a search fragment; House Beautiful (1987, also a fragment) has "blue and gold lacquered chargers".^{105, 106}
1998	Gourmet (a search fragment): "service plates, or "chargers" (as they are often marketed)".¹⁰⁷
2000	The Clinton "gold-rimmed service plate".¹¹⁷
2004	Emily Post's Etiquette (a search fragment): "A charger, or service plate, is a large plate (usually twelve inches".⁷
2015	The Obama "large service plate", a matte gold rim, "similar to the gold-rimmed service plates of the Eisenhower administration".¹¹⁶

It grew: about 10 in (25 cm) from 1902 to 1906 (Good Housekeeping, Hill, and the V&A's 263 mm White House plate), "not less than ten inches" for Allen in 1915, 10¾ in (27 cm, ours) in a 1944 advertisement, "usually twelve inches" (30 cm, ours) in Emily Post's 2004 book (a search fragment), and 11 to 14 in (28 to 36 cm, ours) in today's guides; Von Drachenfels, via Wikipedia, puts antique service plates at 9 in (23 cm, ours).^{7, 34, 35, 93, 95, 98, 102, 108}
Food on it, then and now: Hill (1906) put celery and olives on the service plate, Post (1922) let a passed cold course be eaten on the place plate, and Vanderbilt (1968) said place plates can serve the first course. Today's etiquette sources keep food off the charger.^{6, 8, 95, 100}
Both clearing rules are old: the 1911 to 1912 Boston Cooking-School Magazine answer already gave the early exit for expert service and the before-dessert exit for less expert service.⁹⁷
White House service plates: 1918 (Wilson, Lenox), 1951 (Truman), 1955 (Eisenhower's 120 gold plates), 1968 (Johnson), 1981 (Reagan), 2000 (Clinton) and 2015 (Obama). The association publishes no clearing rule for them; it calls the service plate and dessert plate "the first and last plates seen at a dinner". ^{112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117}

Photograph your plate, see it re-plated

The charger frames the plate; what is on the plate is the part guests eat. Photograph a dish you have cooked and Plate Artists re-plates that dish, with the food kept as it is and the changes named so you can repeat them. Start with a re-plate.

Your food, plated like a chef's

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The words

Charger plate terms, defined

Only the words the site does not already define: the charger itself, the service plate and the place setting are in our table setting guide's glossary and our plates guide.

Chargeour · chargeor, chargeur

The Middle English and Anglo-French word behind charger: a large dish or platter, from the verb to load.

Where it comes from. Merriam-Webster: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from charger "to load, burden"; the first OED: "that which loads".^{79, 81}

Sadware

Pewterers' name for their flat ware: chargers, dishes, plates and saucers.

Where it comes from. The Pewter Society: chargers, dishes, plates and saucers together; collectors call anything over 18 in (46 cm, ours) a charger.¹¹¹

Exchange plate

A clean plate set down when a used place plate is taken away, so a guest is never left without a plate before dessert.

Where it comes from. Post 1922: "a plate with food on it can never be exchanged for a plate that has had food on it; a clean one must come between."¹⁰⁰

Liner

A small plate under a soup cup, bowl or dessert dish; one magazine calls it the service plate and keeps that name off the charger.

Where it comes from. Southern Lady: "A service plate, also called a liner", smaller than a charger; Better Homes and Gardens used "glass liners" for chargers.^{12, 105}

Plate doily

A small mat laid under each service plate on an uncovered table.

Where it comes from. Allen 1915, breakfast on a bare table: "On each doily place the service plate."⁹⁸

Sous-assiette · assiette de présentation

The French under-plate: the presentation plate a restaurant sets at each place.

Where it comes from. Courtiade, 2019: set 2 cm from the edge and removed when desserts are served.²¹

Not for Food Use statement

The US warning that takes a decorative ceramic piece out of the food-ware lead limits.

Where it comes from. 21 CFR 109.16: three permitted wordings, a conspicuous stick-on label AND a permanent statement on the base, unless a hole is bored through.⁶⁰

Ornamental and decorative ceramicware

FDA's term for decorative ceramics; pieces that look usable for food count as food ware unless labelled.

Where it comes from. The 1994 FDA rule and 21 CFR 109.16; unmarked pieces that look usable "will be considered to be foodware".^{60, 61}

Flatware (in food law)

A ceramic piece no more than 25 mm (1 in, ours) deep, such as a plate or charger, for lead-release limits.

Where it comes from. FDA's guide and Canada's regulations: internal depth of 25 mm or less; lead limit 3.0 in both (µg/mL and mg/L).^{62, 70}

Food contact symbol · glass-and-fork symbol (our description)

The EU and UK mark on items sold to touch food; a charger without it, or without for food contact, was not sold for food.

Where it comes from. Regulation 1935/2004, Article 15: "for food contact", a specific use, or "the symbol reproduced in Annex II".⁷¹

FAQ

Charger plates, answered

What is a charger plate?

A large decorative plate set at each place before guests sit, with the plate you eat from (or the first course's plate) set on top of it. It is also called a service plate, place plate or underplate. Of the 30 charger products we read with a printed size, 12 are 13 in (33 cm).

What is a charger plate used for?

To mark each place and hold the plates of the opening courses: the Emily Post Institute calls it an underplate for the first course, and the US Navy's 1976 manual says service plates exist because it was bad form for diners not to have a plate before them until the table is cleared for dessert. Gottsman adds that it protects the table from heat and rings.

What size is a charger plate, in inches and cm?

Of the 30 charger products we read with a printed size, 12 are 13 in (33 cm); they run from 30.0 cm (11.81 in, ours) to 15 in (38 cm, ours). A rental catalogue lists 16 of its 20 chargers at 13 in. Etiquette Scholar and Lenox give 11 to 14 in (28 to 36 cm, ours).

How much bigger than the dinner plate should a charger be?

No etiquette source, maker or trade body we read gives a rule for the dinner plate. Same-maker pairs leave 0.75 in to 1.25 in (1.9 cm to 3.2 cm) of charger showing on each side (our arithmetic). Etiquette Scholar's "no less than one inch" is about the appetizer plate on the charger, not the dinner plate.

When do you remove charger plates from the table?

The sources split. Of the 28 books and pages we read that give a rule, 12 take it away with the soup or first-course plate, 8 exchange it for the main-course plate (the Emily Post Institute today), 10 leave it under the dinner plate and clear it after the main, and 4 as guests sit (some give more than one). None says to keep it for dessert. Our suggestion for a home table: follow the Emily Post Institute's rule.

Can you eat off a charger plate?

It depends on what it is made of and what its maker says, not on the word charger. Some makers sell ceramic chargers as platters and dinner plates; others print "For decorative use only". Today's etiquette sources put no food straight on a charger. Our advice: unless the maker says it is food-safe, put the food on a plate, not on the charger.

Are charger plates food safe?

Some are and some are not, by material and label. In US law an unmarked ceramic charger that looks usable is treated as food ware unless it carries both a "Not for Food Use" sticker and a permanent statement on the base. Glass, plastic, metal and wood have no such label, so the maker's wording ("Food safe" or "decorative use only") is the signal.

What happens if you eat off a charger plate?

No agency we read describes what one meal does, and none says it is safe. What FDA and California's health department describe is lead leaching into food, faster with acid, heat and time, and lead building up in the body over time; Canada, the EU and UK also limit cadmium.

Do you use a placemat with a charger plate?

Either. Debrett's says one or the other; Lenox, EHL, Livingetc, a Christmas blog and (with a plate doily) Allen's 1915 Table Service use both together (5 of the 8 sources in our table). The Emily Post Institute gives no ruling.

What is the difference between a service plate and a charger?

In nearly everything we read, nothing: the Emily Post Institute's entry is "Service Plate: This large plate, also called a charger", and EHL and Lenox say the same. The one exception is Southern Lady's column, which calls a service plate a smaller "liner" under soup cups and dessert bowls.

Why is it called a charger plate?

Charger comes from the Anglo-French chargeour, from charger, to load; in English it first meant a large dish or platter, "for carrying a large joint of meat" in the first OED. The plate under your plate was a service plate or place plate until the late twentieth century: the earliest "charger" for it we found is a 1986 Better Homes and Gardens line, from a search fragment.

What goes on a charger plate?

The plate or bowl of each opening course (first course, soup, salad), and the napkin before the meal starts. The Emily Post Institute puts the napkin "on top of the charger (if one is used)". Today's etiquette sources put no food straight on it; Hill (1906) and Post (1922) once did, on china place plates.

Do you need charger plates for a wedding or a buffet?

No etiquette source we read requires them. A wedding magazine recommends them as decoration for buffet and sit-down receptions, and rental companies stock them; the US Navy omits the plate at the cover for buffet service, and Amy Vanderbilt (1968) said most people with place plates used them for buffets.

Can charger plates go in the dishwasher or microwave?

Check the maker: Juliska and VIETRI print dishwasher and microwave safe for their ceramic chargers; the melamine, acrylic and beaded glass chargers we read from one charger shop were hand wash only, while Libbey prints its Samba glass charger dishwasher-safe. Every maker we read that mentions it keeps gold or platinum decoration out of the microwave.

What colour charger plates for Christmas?

Gold is in all six of the Christmas colour sources in our table; Debrett's calls red and green traditional and silver or gold the alternative, and Lenox suggests gold chargers with white plates. Not every Christmas source goes gold: CBC Life's craft chargers are pink and silver, Blue Sky at Home's red plaid. These are opinions, not rules.

What is the insert size of a charger plate?

Few makers print it. Kouboo's rattan charger has a centre of 8.75 in (22 cm, ours), and Wikipedia, citing Von Drachenfels's The Art of the Table (2000), gives an 8 to 9 in (20 to 23 cm, ours) well. A 10.5 in (27 cm) dinner plate is wider than either, so it rests on the rim (our arithmetic).

Sources

The etiquette books, manuals, makers, agencies and records behind this guide

How each source was read (in full, in an archived copy, as a scan's OCR text, as a search fragment of a lending-only item, or from our earlier reading when a site refused us) is in its entry and under how this page was made. Makers' and shops' pages are what they sell and recommend, not etiquette rulings. Sums, conversions and suggestions marked ours are our own.

Emily Post Institute (2026). The Formal Place Setting. emilypost.com (undated), read in full on 26 October 2026 (first read 24 October 2026): "(12) Service Plate: This large plate, also called a charger"; it stays for the courses before the entrée "until the plate holding the entrée is served, at which point the two plates are exchanged"; the napkin on top of the charger "(if one is used)"; place mats "about one to two inches from the edge of the table". emilypost.com
Emily Post Institute (2025). Etiquette Today: Thanksgiving Table Setting Guides (26 November 2025). Emily Post Etiquette (Substack), read in full on 26 October 2026: "The charger is an option, not a must"; it holds the centre "until the main course is served" and "is removed before the main course is served"; the napkin left of the forks, or in its ring in the centre, "more typical when using a charger"; without a charger the entrée plate may be preset for family-style or buffet service. emilypost.substack.com
Emily Post Institute (2026). Table Setting Guides. emilypost.com (undated), read in full on 26 October 2026: in the formal setting "A charger plate may be used (or not)", the napkin left or in the centre of the charger. emilypost.com
Emily Post Institute (2026). Basic Place Setting; Informal Place Setting. emilypost.com (undated), read in full on 24 October 2026 and searched again on 26 October 2026: neither page mentions a charger or a service plate. emilypost.com
Debrett's (2022). The Christmas Table. debretts.com, read in full on 26 October 2026 (dated 20 December 2022 in the page's metadata): chargers "may be used in preference to table mats" but too many plates "can look cluttered in a domestic setting"; dinner plates "ten inches or a little more"; napkins on the side plates; Christmas colours; no clearing rule. debretts.com
Etiquette Scholar (2026). Plates (Dining etiquette, Table setting, Dinnerware). etiquettescholar.com (undated, unsigned etiquette website), read in full on 26 October 2026: five other names (buffet, charger, cover, lay and place plate); "ranging in size from 11 to 14 inches"; the rim frames "the appetizer plate with a surround of no less than one inch"; "Food is never placed directly on a service plate"; cleared with the soup plate; optional at an informal meal. etiquettescholar.com
Post, P. (2004). Emily Post's Etiquette (the 2004 edition). HarperCollins, "A charger, or service plate, is a large plate (usually twelve inches" (the rest of the sentence not visible); read on 26 October 2026 as an Internet Archive full-text search fragment of a lending-only item, not the page images. archive.org
Vanderbilt, A. (1968). The Place Plate (etiquette question and answer). Ladies' Home Journal, vol. 85, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full (the year is ours, from the volume; the month was not resolved): "The place plate is always different from the rest of the china, but it should go well with it"; today "most people who have place plates like to use them for buffet service. You can also use them to serve the first course.". archive.org
Gottsman, D. (2015). Dining Etiquette: What Is a Service Plate? (12 February 2015). dianegottsman.com (etiquette consultant's blog), read in full on 26 October 2026: food "is never served or eaten directly from the service plate"; "most hosts remove it from the table when the main meal is served", some leave it "until the dessert course"; six other names, among them chop plate. dianegottsman.com
Gottsman, D. (2022). What Is a Charger Plate and How Is It Used? (14 November 2022). dianegottsman.com (etiquette consultant's blog), read in full on 26 October 2026: removed "either before the main course is served or, if preferred, taken away when removing the dinner plate after the meal, before dessert"; "(I prefer to remove it before the main course.)"; protects the table "from heat"; with a napkin or doily on top it serves tea sandwiches or cookies. dianegottsman.com
Youst, J. (2022). Respectfully Yours: Charger plate decorative addition to table (12 August 2022; re-run 29 December 2024). Lehigh Valley Press (newspaper etiquette column), read in full on 26 October 2026, both dates: some hosts remove it "before any food is served"; "More commonly" it is kept through soup, first courses "and the entrée"; "merely decorative and is not meant to come in direct contact with food". lvpnews.com
DePiano, P. H. (2026). Etiquette Q&A: Table Setting Troubleshooting. Southern Lady (magazine column, undated web page), read in full on 26 October 2026: "A charger, also called a place plate"; "The standard size for a charger is 12 inches", 1 inch from the edge, "motif facing the diner", the dinner plate on top; "A service plate, also called a liner" is a smaller plate under soup cups and dessert bowls. southernladymagazine.com
Martha Stewart (editors) (2026). How to Set a Formal Dinner Table. marthastewart.com (magazine), the charger is "taken away once everyone spreads their napkin on their lap"; the live page refused this machine on 26 October 2026; quoted from our earlier reading in October 2026, not re-checked. marthastewart.com
Martha Stewart (editors) (2026). Setting the Table 101. marthastewart.com (magazine), the charger is "cleared along with the bowl or plate" of the first course; and, on one of the two Martha Stewart pages (our earlier note does not say which), "food is never served directly on the charger, but a first-course soup bowl or salad plate can be set on top of it"; the live page refused this machine on 26 October 2026; quoted from our earlier reading in October 2026, not re-checked. marthastewart.com
Wolfe, O. (2024). Charger Plates vs. Placemats: What's the Difference? Which is Better? (6 December 2024). Livingetc (interiors magazine; shopping article), read in full on 26 October 2026: chargers "only slightly larger than the average dinner plate"; pair them with placemats; interior designer Isabel Jackson on "deep reds and golds" or "silver and frosty whites"; "The design is timeless". livingetc.com
Lasnier, E. (2026). 11 Charger Plates to Spruce Up Your Reception Tables. Inside Weddings (wedding magazine, undated page), read in full on 26 October 2026: "Not used for food"; "As your guests will not be eating from them, you can select chargers made from a variety of materials"; for "a buffet or a multi-course sit-down service". insideweddings.com
Hayes, L. (2019). Easy DIY charger plates that bring all the holiday whimsy to your table (2 December 2019). CBC Life, read in full on 26 October 2026: spray-painted chargers with hot-glued MDF discs in the centre to raise the dinner plate. cbc.ca
Carol (Blue Sky at Home) (2023). How to Make DIY Charger Plates for Christmas (16 November 2023). Blue Sky at Home (blog), read in full on 26 October 2026: plaid fabric decoupaged onto plain chargers with Fabric Mod Podge, set "on our white linen placemats with gold trim". blueskyathome.com
Susan (Between Naps on the Porch) (2022). 24 Charger Plate Designs, Including Several DIY-Low Cost Options (20 October 2022). Between Naps on the Porch (blog), read in full on 26 October 2026: a white charger "goes with many dish patterns"; brown, rattan or woven chargers for "patterns that need that darker base or background"; clay saucers: "measure your dinner plates first". betweennapsontheporch.net
Vauclair, M. (2025). Table setting: the expert guide (16 September 2025). EHL Hospitality Insights (blog of EHL hospitality school, Lausanne), read in full on 26 October 2026: "Charger plates, also known as service plates"; "typically removed just before the main course is served"; napkin on the charger, left of the forks or on the dinner plate; "layer placemats with chargers"; holiday colours. ehl.edu
Courtiade, D. (2019). L'assiette de bienvenue (26 August 2019). Offrir International (trade magazine; the author was maître d'hôtel at the Plaza Athénée, Paris), read in full on 26 October 2026 (French; glosses ours): "assiette de présentation, appelée également sous-assiette", set 2 cm from the edge; removed "qu'au moment de servir les desserts" (only when desserts are served); a sculptural one is removed "quelques instants après que les hôtes se sont attablés" (moments after guests sit); his date "vers 1880" for its arrival cites no source. offrir-international.com
SetupMyHotel (2026). SOP: Restaurant, Table Setup. setupmyhotel.com (hotel training website, unsigned), read in full on 26 October 2026: the "base plate" acts "as an underliner for cocktails and starter courses"; "around two inches from the edge of the table"; a logo placed so "the guest can read" it. setupmyhotel.com
Restaurantware (2026). What Is A Charger Plate? (undated blog). restaurantware.com (restaurant-supply seller), read in full on 26 October 2026: "also known as a service plate or underplate"; about 1 in from the edge; menu cards and napkins with rings on it before service; "Remove the underplate after the main course is finished, ideally with the dinner plate still resting on it" (its dash replaced by a comma here); a doily on top turns it into a platter. restaurantware.com
WebstaurantStore (2023). What Is a Charger Plate? (last updated 16 October 2023). webstaurantstore.com (restaurant-supply seller), read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (and an earlier reading): "always removed from the table after all guests are finished eating the main entree", "with the dinner plate still on top"; "Most charger plates are not safe for food"; "not out of style"; its word history is wrong on several counts (see the history section). webstaurantstore.com
WebstaurantStore (2024). Types of Plates (last updated 9 July 2024). webstaurantstore.com (restaurant-supply seller), read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine: "The standard charger plate size is 13\" in diameter"; dinner plates 10 to 12 in, "the standard dinner plate size being 10 1/2\"". webstaurantstore.com
Nisbets (2025). What size are plates? (buyer's guide). nisbets.co.uk (UK catering supplier), read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): chargers "typically up to 14” in diameter"; "Most chargers are mainly decorative"; "a suitable difference in size between your dinner plate and charger"; dinner plates traditionally 10.5 in, restaurants moving to 11 or 12 in. nisbets.co.uk
KaTom Restaurant Supply (2025). Comparing Plate Sizes (learning centre). katom.com (US restaurant supply), read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): chargers "range from 11 to 13 inches"; the size chart's square chargers 11 to 12 in; dinner plates "around 8 to 11 inches". katom.com
CV Linens (2026). What Is The Size Of A Charger Plate? (undated blog). cvlinens.com (event-linen retailer), read in full on 26 October 2026: "The most common size is 13 inches"; fits under "standard dinner plates (8 to 11 inches)" (its dash replaced by "to" here); "typically removed after the main course is served but can remain on the table as part of the decor". cvlinens.com
CV Linens (2026). Do Charger Plates Need Liners or Napkins Under Them? (undated blog). cvlinens.com (event-linen retailer), read in full on 26 October 2026: "A one to two-inch border around the dinner plate is ideal" and, on the same page, chargers "should be 1-2 inches larger than your dinner plates": two different rules. cvlinens.com
CV Linens (2026). Can I Use Round Chargers With Square Plates? (undated blog). cvlinens.com (event-linen retailer), read in full on 26 October 2026: "Round chargers used with square plates do work"; no size or corner guidance. cvlinens.com
Bright Rentals (2026). Dinnerware Charger Rentals (catalogue). bright.com (US event rental company), read in full on 26 October 2026: of 20 items named CHARGER, 16 are 13", 3 are 12" and 1 is 13.5" (count ours); charger-sized china also listed as CHOP PLATE. bright.com
Adorno Editorial (2026). Thanksgiving Tablescape: Design for the Food First. adorno.design (design shop editorial), read in full on 26 October 2026: "Skip the charger, keep the side plate. Chargers take 12 inches of width you need for serving dishes". adorno.design
Wikipedia (2026). Charger (table setting) (revision of 11 September 2026). en.wikipedia.org (encyclopedia), read in full on 26 October 2026: its "Europe" section, tagged as citing no sources, removes the service plate with the soup bowl; its "North America" section says some caterers remove it as guests sit, some leave it all meal, and "Charger plates are always removed before serving desserts", citing only a dead 2011 glass-company page. wikipedia.org
Wikipedia (2026). Plate (dishware), citing Von Drachenfels, S., The Art of the Table (Simon & Schuster, 2000), pp. 82 to 85. en.wikipedia.org (encyclopedia), read in full on 26 October 2026 (the book itself not read): service plates 11 to 14 in across with an 8 to 9 in well (its figures printed with conversion templates, so paraphrased here); antique service plates 9 in with a 6 to 6.5 in well. wikipedia.org
Lenox (2026). What Is a Charger Plate and Do I Really Need One? (buying guide, undated). lenox.com (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "sometimes called a service plate"; "Most charger plates measure between 11 and 14 inches"; buy "12 inches or more"; "about an inch from the edge"; "Never serve food directly on the charger"; "removed before dessert, usually after the entrée course"; "Many hosts actually use both"; styling pairings. lenox.com
Lenox (2026). Dinner Plate Sizes (buying guide, undated). lenox.com (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: chargers "typically measure 12 to 14 inches and are removed before the main course is served"; dinner plates "between 10 to 12 inches". lenox.com
HF Coors (2026). Commercial Charger Plates; Frequently Asked Questions. hfcoors.com (US commercial ceramic maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "12 inch and 13 inch diameters"; "lead-free, cadmium-free" in one line and "Lead-free; cadmium varies by glaze" in the spec table; "FDA compliant for food-contact surfaces"; "Most charger plates used in hospitality are made from acrylic, melamine, or thin stamped metal" (the maker's view of its competitors). hfcoors.com
HF Coors (2026). Mimbreno charger plate; Mimbreno dinner plate; American White dinner plate set (product pages). hfcoors.com (US commercial ceramic maker), read on 26 October 2026 in the store's product data: the Mimbreno charger "a 12-inch statement piece"; the Mimbreno dinner plate "measures 10.5 inches"; American White "10 1/2\" dinner plates". hfcoors.com
Wedgwood (2026). Gio Gold Octagonal Charger Plate (art. 40007543); Gio Gold Dinner Plate (art. 40007539). wedgwood.com (tableware maker, UK shop), read in full on 26 October 2026: the charger's width "33.1 cm", fine bone china with 22-carat gold banding, "Dishwasher-safe"; the dinner plate "28.32 cm"; "Lay an Gio Gold dinner plate in white and gold over the charger". wedgwood.com
Wedgwood (2026). Anthemion Blue, Mythical Creatures and Red Splendour charger plates. wedgwood.com (tableware maker, UK shop), read in full on 26 October 2026: Anthemion Blue "30.0 cm"; Mythical Creatures "31.35 cm", gold-banded and "Dishwasher-safe"; Red Splendour "Dishwasher safe", no size printed. wedgwood.com
Wedgwood (2026). Care Guide. wedgwood.com (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: bone china "Microwave safe unless the item has metallic decoration"; "Place napkins or protective liners between stacked pieces"; silver plate "Hand wash only". wedgwood.com
Royal Doulton (2026). How to Clean & Care for Royal Doulton (Care Guide). royaldoulton.com (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "Microwave safe, unless includes precious metal decoration"; colour-coated glass hand washed separately, kept away from "rings, knives"; napkins between stored items; and, from the store search the same day, no charger with a printed size. royaldoulton.com
Villeroy & Boch (2026). Boston Charger plate (1173090804). villeroy-boch.co.uk (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "Ø32 cm, crystal glass"; the page title calls it an "underplate". villeroy-boch.co.uk
Villeroy & Boch (2026). For Me Charger plate (1041532680). villeroy-boch.co.uk (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "White, Ø31.9 cm, Premium Porcelain". villeroy-boch.co.uk
Villeroy & Boch (2026). Dining & Lifestyle FAQ. villeroy-boch.com (tableware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: gold or platinum embellished dinnerware "is not microwave safe. Hand washing is recommended; the occasional gentle cycle is fine.". villeroy-boch.com
Steelite International (2025). FAQ. steelite.com (commercial tableware maker), read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): "None of the glazes contain lead"; every product microwave-safe except "any that are decorated with a precious metal such as gold or platinum"; no Steelite charger size could be read. steelite.com
Libbey Foodservice (Nachtmann) (2026). Samba Charger Plate, 12 5/8" (item N89993). libbeyfoodservice.com (glassware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: the title prints "12 5/8\"", the spec line "Size: 12 3/5 in."; "dishwasher-safe". libbeyfoodservice.com
Jay Imports (Jay Companies; ChargeIt by Jay), via Just Charger Plates (2026). Gold Beaded Clear Glass Round Charger Plate 13"; Silver Tiled Round Melamine Charger Plate 13". justchargerplates.com (retailer page for the maker's products), read in full on 26 October 2026 (the maker's own site did not resolve): the glass charger "Food safe", "Hand wash only", "Not recommended for oven or microwave use"; the melamine one "For decorative purposes only"; the shop's material filter Glass (49), Melamine (22), Acrylic (23), Polypropylene (13). justchargerplates.com
Jay Imports (Jay Companies) and Ten Strawberry Street, via Just Charger Plates (2026). Beveled round mirror charger; brown pine faux wood charger; Gold Baroque Acrylic Charger; Lacquer Gold Beaded charger (all 13"). justchargerplates.com (retailer page for the makers' products), read in full on 26 October 2026: the mirror charger "Material: Glass", "Food safe", with a "Prop 65 Warning" flag that names no chemical; the faux wood "Material: Melamine", "For decorative use only"; the "Acrylic" baroque one "Material: Polyproplyene" [sic], "For decorative use only"; the lacquer one "Material: Acrylic", no food-use line. justchargerplates.com
Juliska (2026). Berry & Thread Scalloped, Pewter Stoneware, Willa and Classic Bamboo charger plates; Berry & Thread dinner plate. juliska.com (tabletop maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: 13.5, 14.0, 14.0 and 14.0 in, all titled "Charger/Platter"; "Dishwasher (avoid high heat), Freezer, Microwave and Oven Safe (up to 500 degrees)" on three, Willa "Dishwasher, Oven, Microwave, and Freezer Safe"; Berry & Thread "doubles as an abundant dinner plate or serving platter"; the dinner plate 11.0 in; Willa glazes "All are lead free". juliska.com
Juliska (2026). Bilbao Wood Charger/Platter; Rustic Rope Charger. juliska.com (tabletop maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: Bilbao mango wood 14.0 in, "Not dishwasher, oven, or microwave safe", hand wash, "Mineral oil can be used to restore richness of the wood color"; Rustic Rope 15.0 in, "Wipe with clean, damp cloth" (its care line headed "Cork", its material "Wood"). juliska.com
MATCH Pewter (2026). Convivio Charger. match1995.com (Italian pewter maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "13.4\" DIA"; "MATCH Pewter does not contain lead and is completely food safe"; "Pewter is NOT microwave or oven safe"; chargers as "service trays for passing around tempting nibbles". match1995.com
Arte Italica (2026). Peltro, Vetro Gold, Florentino and Finezza Cream chargers. arteitalica.com (Italian tabletop maker), read on 26 October 2026 in the store's product data: Peltro pewter 13 in, "Wipe clean with a damp cloth", a charger "or a serving piece"; Vetro Gold glass with hand-painted 24-karat gold 12.5 in, "Hand wash only"; Florentino wood 13 in; Finezza ceramic 13 in, "Dishwasher safe on low heat setting only". arteitalica.com
VIETRI (2026). Rufolo Glass Gold Service Plate/Charger; Campagna Cavallo Service Plate/Charger and dinner plate. vietri.com (Italian tabletop maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: Rufolo glass "Diameter: 12.75\"", hand wash, "Do not submerge", tagged "Care: Food Safe"; Campagna Cavallo earthenware 12 in, dishwasher and microwave safe; its dinner plate 10 in. vietri.com
Mariposa (2026). Alabaster White charger plate and dinner plate (sets of 4). mariposa-gift.com (tabletop maker), read on 26 October 2026 in the store's product data: charger "13\" L x 13\" W x 1\"H", dinner plate "11\" L x 11\" W"; both "dishwasher safe"; no material printed. mariposa-gift.com
Sertodo Copper (2026). Thessaly 13 Inch Copper Charger Plates. sertodo.com (copper maker), read on 26 October 2026 in the store's product data: "13 inch in diameter"; both "passing hors d'oeuvres" and "Designed for decorative use". sertodo.com
Kouboo (2026). La Jolla Round Rattan Charger Plate, Set of 2. kouboo.com (home-goods brand), read on 26 October 2026 in the store's product data: "Diameter 12.5 inches x 1.5 inches tall (Diameter at center 8.75 inches)"; rattan "Finished with a coating of clear lacquer"; "Do not use as a trivet"; no food-contact line. kouboo.com
Slateplate (2026). Buyers Guide. slateplate.com (slate servingware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: "12x12 | Charger/Large Plate"; sealed "with food-safe mineral oil"; "dishwasher safe, even under the sterilizing settings". slateplate.com
Arthur Court Designs (2026). Beaded Charger Round; How to take care of your serveware. arthurcourt.com (aluminium serveware maker), read in full on 26 October 2026: polished aluminium; hand wash, the polish "permanently dulled by the high heat of a dishwasher"; remove acidic or salty food promptly "or insert a glass liner for food service"; no diameter printed. arthurcourt.com
US Food and Drug Administration (1994). 21 CFR 109.16, Ornamental and decorative ceramicware (59 FR 1641, 12 January 1994). Code of Federal Regulations, via Cornell LII, read in full on 26 October 2026: ceramicware that "appears to be suitable for food use will be considered to be for food use unless" it carries a conspicuous stick-on statement AND a permanent statement on the base, or has a hole bored through it; the three permitted wordings, all beginning "Not for Food Use"; "For Decorative Purposes Only" may only follow the required statement. law.cornell.edu
US Food and Drug Administration (1994). Lead-Containing Ornamental and Decorative Ceramicware; Final Rule (59 FR 1638, 12 January 1994). Federal Register, via govinfo, read in full on 26 October 2026: unmarked decorative ceramicware that looks like foodware "will be considered to be foodware and will be evaluated for lead release by the agency as foodware"; the exemption for "nonfood service plates" (display plates such as commemorative ones) deleted. govinfo.gov
US Food and Drug Administration (2005). CPG Sec. 545.450, Pottery (Ceramics); Import and Domestic, Lead Contamination (updated 29 November 2005). FDA Compliance Policy Guide, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy of the PDF: ceramic flatware, internal depth 25 mm or less, 3.0 µg/mL lead (average of 6 units); "Non-food service plates" for display exempt only if labelled under 109.16(b). fda.gov
US Food and Drug Administration (2025). Lead in Food and Foodwares (content current as of 6 January 2025). fda.gov, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine: no FDA regulation authorises lead in foodware; decorative ceramicware containing lead "must contain a specific label identifying the danger of using it with food". fda.gov
US Food and Drug Administration (2025). Questions and Answers on Lead-Glazed Traditional Pottery. fda.gov, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): "Do not use items with this type of warning for cooking, serving, or storing food or drinks"; factory-made everyday ware "much less likely to have problems related to lead"; "no amount of washing, boiling, or other process can remove lead". fda.gov
US Food and Drug Administration (2025). Determining the Regulatory Status of Components of a Food Contact Material. fda.gov, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): each substance expected to migrate into food must be authorised; compliance is "the responsibility of the manufacturer". fda.gov
US Food and Drug Administration (2025). Microwave Ovens (radiation-emitting products). fda.gov, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): "metal pans or aluminum foil should also not be used in a microwave oven"; "Use microwave safe cookware". fda.gov
Minnesota Department of Health (adopting the FDA Food Code) (2026). Minnesota Rules 4626.0460 (Food Code 4-101.13, lead) and 4626.0465 (4-101.14, copper). revisor.mn.gov, read in full on 26 October 2026: decorative utensils "such as hand-painted ceramic or china" used with food within the lead limits (plates 3.0); "Pewter alloys containing lead in excess of 0.05 percent must not be used as a food-contact surface"; copper and brass not with food "that has a pH below 6, such as vinegar, fruit juice, or wine"; these bind food businesses, not home hosts. revisor.mn.gov
California Department of Public Health (2025). Questions and Answers about Lead in Tableware. cdph.ca.gov (Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch), read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy; the live page timed out): tableware below Proposition 65 lead levels "is considered safe to use"; raised decoration on top of the glaze is a higher risk; "Cooking or microwaving speeds the lead-leaching process". cdph.ca.gov
SGS Consumer Testing Services (2005). SafeGuards 04505: New Proposition 65 requirements on Glassware and Ceramicware (August 2005). SGS (testing laboratory bulletin summarising the 2005 settlement; the settlement itself not read), read in full on 26 October 2026 (PDF): a "tentative court settlement" binding the settling companies and those who "Opt-In"; it covers decorated glass and ceramic products, food and "Non-Food/Beverage Glass and Ceramic Products (household products)"; decoration lead and cadmium limits, or a warning label. sgs.com
Government of Canada (2016). Glazed Ceramics and Glassware Regulations (SOR/2016-175), current to SOR/2026-113. Justice Laws website, read in full on 26 October 2026: covers products "completely or partly made of ceramic or glass" with a lead or cadmium coating, glaze or decoration whose food use is "reasonably foreseeable"; flatware 3.0 mg/L lead and 0.50 mg/L cadmium; the not-for-food route is a hole or hook or the warning "DO NOT USE FOR FOOD" in English and French, capitals at least 3 mm high. laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
European Parliament and Council (2004). Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, Articles 1, 3 and 15 (UK retained text). legislation.gov.uk, read in full on 26 October 2026 (EUR-Lex returned a bot wall): covers articles that "can reasonably be expected to be brought into contact with food"; antiques excluded; labels must not mislead; articles sold for food carry "for food contact", a specific use, or the Annex II symbol. legislation.gov.uk
Council of the European Communities (1984). Council Directive 84/500/EEC on ceramic articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs, Article 1 (revised 20 May 2005). legislation.gov.uk, read in full on 26 October 2026: lead and cadmium migration from "ceramic articles which, in their finished state, are intended to come into contact with foodstuffs". legislation.gov.uk
UK Government (2006). The Ceramic Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1179), regulation 2 and Schedule 1. legislation.gov.uk, read in full on 26 October 2026: a plate (not over 25 mm deep) may transfer 0.8 mg/dm² lead and 0.07 mg/dm² cadmium; an article "supplied as an antique" excluded. legislation.gov.uk
European Commission (2011). Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, Articles 1 and 2 (UK retained text). legislation.gov.uk, read in full on 26 October 2026: plastic articles that "can reasonably be expected to come into contact with food", printed or coated ones included. legislation.gov.uk
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2025). Chemicals in food packaging (August 2018; updated 25 February 2025). foodstandards.gov.au, read in full on 26 October 2026: food in contact with packaging must be safe; packaging "fit for its intended use"; no page on tableware or a not-for-food label found. foodstandards.gov.au
Cambridge University Press (2026). charger, noun (PLATE). Cambridge Dictionary online, read in full on 26 October 2026: "a plate that is put on a table for another plate, a bowl, a table decoration, etc. to be placed on top"; usage example "Some people think chargers are essential for a sit-down formal dinner, but that's hardly the case.". dictionary.cambridge.org
Oxford University Press (2026). charger (American English), sense 2. Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, read in full on 26 October 2026: "a large plate used under a place setting as a decoration"; the British English entry read the same day has only the battery and war-horse senses. oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com
Merriam-Webster (2026). service plate. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2026 copy): "a large elaborate plate used to indicate a place at table and to serve as an under plate during the first courses". merriam-webster.com
Merriam-Webster (2025). charger (noun 1). Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 2025 copy): "a large flat dish or platter"; "Middle English chargeour, borrowed from Anglo-French, from charger "to load, burden""; first known use 14th century; the dish sense in Anglo-French "appears not to have a parallel on the continent". merriam-webster.com
Oxford English Dictionary (2024). charger, n.1 (revised 2024). Oxford University Press, oed.com, read on 26 October 2026 in the entry's public summary only (definitions and quotations are behind a paywall): "Etymons: French chargeor, chargeour"; "OED's earliest evidence for charger is from around 1390.". oed.com
Murray, J. A. H. (ed.) (1893). A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, vol. II (C), s.v. Charger, sb.1. Clarendon Press, Oxford, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: "A large plate or flat dish for carrying a large joint of meat; a platter"; AF "chargeour, that which loads"; first quotation dated c1305; no under-plate sense; its table of Bible wordings. archive.org
Harper, D. (2025). charger. Online Etymology Dictionary, read on 26 October 2026 in an archived (Wayback) copy, the live page refusing this machine (a 7 October 2025 copy): "type of serving dish, late 14c. from Norman-French chargeoir, "place where goods are loaded"". etymonline.com
A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (1937). Chargeour, n.1. Dictionaries of the Scots Language online, read in full on 26 October 2026: "A large plate or dish; a platter", Scots quotations 1478 to 1593, many in pewter; "Attrib. with plate" from 1548 ("the best chargeour seruice plaite"); "Twa greit chargar plaittis of pwider" (1568); "chargeour plait" (1589); the English word dated "(c 1305)". dsl.ac.uk
Johnson, S. (1755). A Dictionary of the English Language, vol. 1, s.v. Charger. London, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: "A large dish", from charge; Denham's "Heap'd in great chargers, load our sumptuous boards" (long s read as f in the OCR; spelling normalised by us). archive.org
Webster, N. (1828). An American Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. Charger. as transcribed at webstersdictionary1828.com, read in full on 26 October 2026: sense 2 "A large dish. Numbers 7:13"; no under-plate sense. webstersdictionary1828.com
Merriam-Webster (1934). Webster's New International Dictionary, 2nd edition. G. & C. Merriam, "place plate. = SERVICE PLATE." (the edition's year is ours; the Internet Archive date field is wrong); read on 26 October 2026 as an Internet Archive full-text search fragment of a lending-only item, not the page images. archive.org
Wilton, D. (2020). charger plate (4 July 2020). Wordorigins.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: Anglo-Norman "chargeur", a dish "on which other dishes were placed or loaded"; the Rood poem "I was þat cheef chargeour", which he dates c. 1305. wordorigins.org
Tyndale, W. (trans.) (1526). The New Testament (Matthew from the 1525 Cologne fragment; the rest Worms, 1526), modernised spelling. Project Gutenberg eBook #10553, read in full on 26 October 2026: Matthew 14 "Ihon baptist's head in a platter"; Mark 6 "in a charger the head of Ihon baptist". gutenberg.org
Geneva Bible (1599). The 1599 Geneva Bible, Matthew 14:8 and Mark 6:25 (Tolle Lege Press, modern spelling). BibleGateway, read in full on 26 October 2026: Matthew "in a platter", Mark "in a charger". biblegateway.com
King James Version (1611). The Holy Bible, King James Version (modern spelling). Project Gutenberg eBook #10, read in full on 26 October 2026: "Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger" (Matthew 14:8) and Mark 6:25; "one silver charger" (Numbers 7). gutenberg.org
Wycliffite Bible (1395). Matthew 14 (labelled 1382 by the site; the wording looks like the Later Version of about 1395, our reading). textusreceptus.thekingsbible.com, read in full on 26 October 2026: "the heed of Joon Baptist in a disch". thekingsbible.com
Sherwood, M. E. W. (1887). Manners and Social Usages, new and enlarged edition (copyright 1884). Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg #8399, read in full on 26 October 2026: the butler "causes a plate to be put at each place, large enough to hold the majolica plate with the oysters"; the plate is not named. gutenberg.org
Good Housekeeping (1902). Setting the Table (vol. 35, no. 5, November 1902, p. 319 area). Good Housekeeping, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: the service plate "usually a ten-inch plate", "about one inch from the edge"; "left on the table until carried away with the fish or the first hot course after the soup"; the napkin "laid squarely on the service plate". archive.org
The Boston Cooking-School Magazine (1903). Queries and Answers (volume dated 1903 to 1904 in the Internet Archive record). The Boston Cooking-School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full (issue and page not resolved): covers "consist of service plate, dinner size (these may be omitted)"; after the soup the hostess removes "the service plates, holding the soup plates". archive.org
Hill, J. M. (1906). The Up-to-Date Waitress. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: "Service or place plates (ten inches in diameter)"; celery and olives put on the service plate; it stays under fish and entrée and is exchanged for the plate of turkey, pp. 50 to 64. archive.org
Cole, A. F. S. (1911). The Expert Waitress. Harper & Brothers, New York and London, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: "Place the soup plate on the cold dinner plate"; "exchange the cold plate for the fish plate"; "the cold plate may be dispensed with", pp. 26 to 27 and c. p. 78. archive.org
The Boston Cooking-School Magazine (1911). Queries and Answers, Query 1757: Time of Removing Place Plates (volume dated 1911 to 1912 in the Internet Archive record). The Boston Cooking-School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: with expert service the place plate "may be removed with the soup plate. With less expert service the place plate remains before the guest until the removal of the last course before the sweets, when both plates are removed together". archive.org
Allen, L. G. (1915). Table Service. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: service or place plates "not less than ten inches in diameter", "one inch from the edge of the table"; the plate "remains upon the table until it is necessary to replace it with a hot plate"; "Remove soup and service plates together"; a plate doily under it at breakfast, pp. [24] to [86]. archive.org
Eichler, L. (1921). The Book of Etiquette (this scan the 1922 printing). Triangle Books / Nelson Doubleday, New York, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: the place plate "a trifle larger than the ordinary dinner plate" holds every course before the main and "Before serving the main course, this place plate is removed", pp. 102 to 103; "Service plates are removed, ordinarily, when the entrée is served" (the meat course), c. pp. 246 to 248. archive.org
Post, E. (1922). Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home. Funk & Wagnalls; Project Gutenberg #14314, read in full on 26 October 2026 (the Gutenberg text): ch. XIV "The Ever-Present Plate": "when the soup plate is removed, the underneath plate is removed with it"; "The Exchange Plate": a cold course offered in bulk "would have been eaten on the place plate"; the napkin "folded square and flat" on each place plate; the book never says "service plate" or "charger". gutenberg.org
Post, E. (1927). Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, new and enlarged edition (April 1929 printing). Funk & Wagnalls, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: the 1922 clearing words kept, pp. 200 to 201; "service plate" and "place plate" for one plate in the servantless-house chapter, a cold first course set "on each service plate" there, c. pp. 646 to 647. archive.org
House Beautiful (1944). Plummer Ltd advertisement, Christmas Tree china (vol. 86). House Beautiful, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full (the year is ours, from the volume; issue not resolved): "Large chop plate, 14 ins." and "Service plate. 10¾ ins." (the OCR prints "10%"). archive.org
Naval Education and Training Command (1976). Mess Management Specialist 3 & 2 (NAVEDTRA 10267), ch. 10 Food Service. US Navy, Pensacola (ERIC ED 120 852), read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: service plates "are not removed until replaced by the heated dinner plate for the first hot course after the soup"; "No food is placed directly on the service plate"; the plate omitted at buffet service; self-test item 9-55. archive.org
Naval Education and Training Command (1990). Mess Management Specialist 3 (NAVEDTRA 10090, May 1990), ch. 10. US Navy, read on 26 October 2026 in the Internet Archive scan's OCR text, in full: the 1976 formal-dinner text repeated; at semiformal service the service plate leaves with the first-course china; at dessert "the only items remaining from the original setting are the water and wine glasses". archive.org
Better Homes and Gardens (1986). Better Homes and Gardens vol. 64 (July), and Christmas, 1989 (Meredith). Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, "Use glass liners (also called service plates or chargers) to hold the bouquets" (the year 1986 is ours, from the volume number; the Internet Archive date field is wrong); read on 26 October 2026 as an Internet Archive full-text search fragment of a lending-only item, not the page images. archive.org
House Beautiful (1987). House Beautiful vol. 129 (July). House Beautiful, "add service plates like these blue and gold lacquered chargers" (the year is ours, from the volume number); read on 26 October 2026 as an Internet Archive full-text search fragment of a lending-only item, not the page images. archive.org
Gourmet (1998). Gourmet vol. 58 (September). Condé Nast, "service plates, or "chargers" (as they are often marketed)" (the year is ours, from the volume number); read on 26 October 2026 as an Internet Archive full-text search fragment of a lending-only item, not the page images. archive.org
Victoria and Albert Museum (2026). White House Service Plate, Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Etruria, ca. 1902 (object O1787143). V&A Collections, London, read in full on 26 October 2026 (the collection record): bone china, gold border, hand-painted Great Seal; diameter 263 mm. collections.vam.ac.uk
Victoria and Albert Museum (2026). Charger, England, 1662 (O7765); Pair of chargers, England, ca. 1680 (O378094). V&A Collections, London, read in full on 26 October 2026 (the collection records): the 1662 pewter charger 569 mm across, "principally intended as display objects and show little sign of use"; the pair "broad-rimmed buffet dishes". collections.vam.ac.uk
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2026). Charger records 191540, 191541, 194495, 195069 (pewter, 17th to first half of the 18th century). The Met Collection (Open Access records), read in full on 26 October 2026: 17 in to 20 1/2 in (43.2 to 52.1 cm) across. metmuseum.org
The Pewter Society (2026). Pewter for eating. pewtersociety.org (collectors' society), read in full on 26 October 2026: chargers, dishes, plates and saucers were "sadware"; "although 'charger' is a very old word, pewterers rarely used it"; collectors' sizes: dish 11 to 18 in (27.9 to 45.6 cm), "charger anything larger". pewtersociety.org
White House Historical Association (2026). White House China Service (press room timeline). whitehousehistory.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: Wilson 1918 Lenox "the first American-made state service"; Truman's service plate "had a heavy gold rim and celadon-green border"; Mamie Eisenhower's "120 gold service plates" (Castleton, 1955, $3,606.40), used again under Kennedy; no clearing rule. whitehousehistory.org
White House Historical Association (2026). A History of the Presidential Seal, Photo 3. whitehousehistory.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: pieces "including a service plate" made by Lenox in 1918 for Woodrow Wilson. whitehousehistory.org
White House Historical Association (2026). Bouillon Cup and Saucer, Service Plate, and Soup Plate, Truman Service (digital library record). library.whitehousehistory.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: made by Lenox in 1951 for Harry Truman, "a heavy gold rim, the presidential arms, and celadon green details". whitehousehistory.org
White House Historical Association (2026). White House Decorative Arts in the 1960s, Photo 1. whitehousehistory.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: "Service Plate, Dessert Plate, and Cream Soup Cup and Saucer. Castleton China, Inc., New Castle, Pennsylvania, 1968-72; designed by Tiffany & Co.". whitehousehistory.org
White House Historical Association (2026). Obama State Service Large Service Plate (digital library record). library.whitehousehistory.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: a "large service plate" of 2015 with the Presidential Coat of Arms "In accordance with tradition" and a matte gold rim, "similar to the gold-rimmed service plates of the Eisenhower administration acquired in 1955". whitehousehistory.org
White House Historical Association (2025). The 2025 Official White House Christmas Ornament. whitehousehistory.org, read in full on 26 October 2026: the Reagan service plate (Lenox, 1981) with "a wide scarlet red border embellished with gold cross-hatching"; the Clinton "gold-rimmed service plate" (first used November 2000); the service plate and dessert plate "the first and last plates seen at a dinner". whitehousehistory.org

Charger plates: what they are, the sizes, and when to clear them

What is a charger plate?

What is a charger plate called? Service plate, place plate and the other names

Charger plate size: 30 products side by side, in inches and cm

What the tally says (ours)

What buyers' guides, a rental catalogue and etiquette sources call the usual size

How much bigger than the dinner plate? No source gives a rule

Charger plate insert size

Charger plates for square dishes

When to remove charger plates: every source we read, side by side

Where they split (ours, from the table)

Our recommendation for a home table (ours)

What goes on a charger, and what never does

The napkin and the charger

How to use charger plates at home

Can you eat off a charger plate? Are charger plates food safe?

If you are not sure about yours

Charger plate materials and care, maker by maker

Are charger plates usually plastic, or glass?

Washing, storing and polishing

Charger plate vs placemat: one, the other, or both?

Do you need charger plates? Home tables, buffets, weddings and restaurants

Charger plates for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Charger plates for Thanksgiving

Charger plates for Christmas: gold, red, green, silver

Are charger plates out of style?

Why is it called a charger plate? The word, and the service plate's history

The service plate, dated

Photograph your plate, see it re-plated

Your food, plated like a chef's

Charger plate terms, defined

Chargeour · chargeor, chargeur

Sadware

Exchange plate

Liner

Plate doily

Sous-assiette · assiette de présentation

Not for Food Use statement

Ornamental and decorative ceramicware

Flatware (in food law)

Food contact symbol · glass-and-fork symbol (our description)

Charger plates, answered

What is a charger plate?

What is a charger plate used for?

What size is a charger plate, in inches and cm?

How much bigger than the dinner plate should a charger be?

When do you remove charger plates from the table?

Can you eat off a charger plate?

Are charger plates food safe?

What happens if you eat off a charger plate?

Do you use a placemat with a charger plate?

What is the difference between a service plate and a charger?

Why is it called a charger plate?

What goes on a charger plate?

Do you need charger plates for a wedding or a buffet?

Can charger plates go in the dishwasher or microwave?

What colour charger plates for Christmas?

What is the insert size of a charger plate?

The etiquette books, manuals, makers, agencies and records behind this guide

Keep going

Types of plates

Plate size chart

How to set a table

Table setting diagram

How to fold napkins

Christmas table setting

Thanksgiving tablescape