Long considered somewhat old-fashioned, cabbage leaf tableware is now making a spectacular comeback. Plates, serving dishes, salad bowls, bowls, cups and pitchers: its large veined leaves and vibrant shades of green are once again taking over tables, interior design stores and social media.
Its name? Cabbage ware.
Yet behind this delightfully retro trend lies a much older story. While cabbage ware perfectly reflects today's taste for colorful, handcrafted and slightly extravagant objects, it has actually been part of the history of European tableware for several centuries.
Cabbage leaf tableware: the great comeback of a classic
Interior design trends often move in cycles. After several years dominated by pared-back interiors, neutral tones and minimalist objects, our homes are gradually embracing color, patterns, generous shapes and vintage references once again.
The 1970s and 1980s are being revisited, sculptural objects are reappearing, and pieces once considered overly decorative are returning to center stage.
Cabbage ware fits perfectly into this movement. With its generous reliefs, visible veins and sometimes almost unreal colors, this tableware is anything but discreet. On the contrary, it turns the table itself into part of the decor.
A plate takes the shape of a cabbage leaf. A salad bowl looks as though it has been molded directly from a head of lettuce. A soup tureen becomes almost a botanical sculpture. It is precisely this playful quality that makes cabbage ware so appealing today.
But what exactly is cabbage ware?
The term refers to a family of ceramics inspired by the plant world, and more specifically by cabbage, lettuce and other leafy vegetables.
The pieces are generally molded to reproduce the natural relief of the leaves: veins, undulations, irregular edges and overlapping layers.
Green naturally remains the signature color, ranging from soft, delicate shades to deep greens, but cabbage ware can also be found in white, yellow, pink, blue or in much more whimsical color combinations.
Plates, serving dishes, bowls, salad bowls, soup tureens, sauce boats and cups: almost every piece of tableware has been reinterpreted according to this principle.
And despite what its current popularity might suggest, cabbage leaf tableware is far from being a recent invention.
A history dating back to the 18th century
Some of the first European ceramics inspired by leaves and vegetables appeared in the 18th century, when manufacturers competed in creativity to produce ever more spectacular pieces.
It was an era fascinated by nature, relief decoration and trompe-l'œil forms.
Major European manufacturers began producing vegetable-shaped tureens, leaf-decorated serving dishes and an entire range of naturalistic tableware whose pieces sometimes seemed to have come straight from the garden. The boundary between functional object and decorative piece was deliberately blurred.
Germany, Italy, France and Portugal all played a part in this history of naturalistic ceramics. Yet it is impossible to talk about cabbage ware without turning our attention to Portugal.
In Portugal, the cabbage becomes a true decorative object
Portugal has a particularly strong tradition of figurative and naturalistic ceramics in Caldas da Rainha, a spa town north of Lisbon that became one of the country's major ceramic centers during the 19th century.
In the workshops of Caldas da Rainha, the natural world becomes an extraordinary creative playground. Cabbages, leaves, tomatoes, fish, fruit, animals and flowers are transformed into serving dishes, bowls, tureens and decorative objects.
One of the most famous expressions of this spectacular approach to ceramics can be found in the work of Rafael Bordallo Pinheiro, whose creations have profoundly shaped Portugal's decorative identity.
The famous cabbage leaf therefore becomes far more than a decorative motif. It becomes the form itself. The relief, veins and contours of the leaf directly determine the shape of the object. It is a tradition that Portuguese workshops continue to keep alive today.
Dodie Thayer and the American revival
Cabbage ware enjoyed another golden age in the 20th century thanks to American ceramicist Dodie Thayer.
In the 1960s, she began handcrafting tableware inspired by lettuce leaves. Her creations quickly became highly sought after.
They attracted a prestigious American clientele and helped turn this botanical tableware into the symbol of a particular way of entertaining: elegant, whimsical and relaxed all at once.
Her vintage pieces are now particularly prized by collectors, while some designs inspired by her work continue to be produced today.
Cabbage ware thus rediscovered exactly what had made it so appealing in the 18th century: tableware functional enough to be used and extravagant enough to become decorative in its own right.
Why is cabbage ware making a comeback today?
Its current popularity is probably no coincidence. Interior design is gradually moving away from perfectly neutral and standardized environments. Homes are becoming more personal, with more color, handcrafted pieces and objects with a genuine visual presence.
In this context, cabbage leaf tableware ticks almost every box: it is colorful, richly textured, evocative of craftsmanship, infused with a vintage spirit and, above all, instantly gives a table personality.
The phenomenon has also been amplified by social media, where these highly photogenic objects naturally find their place among colorful tables, checked tablecloths and generous arrangements.
After years of beige, perfectly uniform tableware, the cabbage is having its revenge.
Portugal, the natural home of cabbage ware
While many international brands are now reinterpreting the trend, Portugal remains a particularly interesting place to discover this type of ceramic.
In Caldas da Rainha in particular, several workshops continue to preserve this naturalistic tradition. This is precisely what makes Portuguese pieces so interesting: they are not simply responding to a current trend, but are rooted in a genuine local ceramic tradition.
At Luisa Paixão, we regularly select pieces inspired by this tradition: leaf-shaped plates, botanical bowls, serving dishes, salad bowls and ceramics inspired by the distinctive world of Caldas da Rainha.
These objects can of course be used at the table, but they can also be deliberately left on display in a kitchen or on a sideboard.
How to embrace cabbage leaf tableware without going for the total look
The good news is that there is absolutely no need to turn your table into a vegetable garden. Cabbage ware works particularly well when used in carefully chosen touches.
A large leaf-shaped plate can become a serving dish surrounded by simple white tableware. A green salad bowl instantly adds color to a very understated table. A few small bowls can hold olives, nuts or sauces for an aperitif.
You can also play with contrast. The intense green of the leaves works beautifully with a white or natural-colored tablecloth, striped linens, understated stoneware, colored glass, antique or contemporary cutlery, and a few yellow, pink or blue pieces.
For a bolder table setting, you can instead embrace an abundance of botanical references and colors. Because if there is one area where excess can become a virtue, it is cabbage ware.
Tableware that goes beyond a passing trend
This is probably what explains the enduring appeal of this type of ceramic. It appears, disappears and then regularly returns to the spotlight. Because it possesses something purely decorative trends rarely have: a genuine identity.
Halfway between folk tradition, Rococo fantasy and contemporary design, cabbage leaf tableware manages to be playful without becoming trivial, and decorative without losing its function.
It can be used to serve a salad or displayed on a shelf as an almost sculptural piece.
And at a time when we are actively seeking to make our interiors less uniform and more personal, cabbage ware ultimately feels more relevant than ever.