christening plates en

Plates commemorating a child's baptism or christening, of metal or ceramic and often having decorations or an inscription. Examples would be particular types of plates of brass, ceramic, or tin that were common in the 17th-18th centuries in Gelderland, the Netherlands; these plates were sometimes used as offertory plates for well-wishers of the child, often given by the godparents to commemorate the baptism. The tradition grew, in part, out of the earlier tradition of the "birth trays." Modern christening plates may be both commemorative and utilitarian, used by the child to hold food for consumption.