Constance of Austria in the context of John II Casimir Vasa

A plate is a broad, mainly flat vessel on which food can be served. A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes. Most plates are circular, but they may be any shape, or made of any water-resistant material. Generally plates are raised round the edges, either by a curving up, or a wider lip or raised portion. Vessels with no lip, especially if they have a more rounded profile, are likely to be considered as bowls or dishes, as are very large vessels with a plate shape. Plates are dishware, and tableware. Plates in wood, pottery and metal go back into antiquity in many cultures.

In Western culture and many other cultures, the plate is the typical vessel from which food is eaten and on which it is served, provided the food is not too high in liquid content, its primary alternative is the bowl. Some South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures use leaf plates made from the leaves of a variety of plants, including the banana leaf, pandan leaf, sometimes using underlying paper. Parts of the bamboo plant, like sections of bamboo tubes [ja], bambuseae leaves, bamboo shoot skin, and the paper (cf. Kaishi and Washi) are also used as plates in East Asian cultures.

John II Casimir Vasa (Polish: Jan II Kazimierz Waza; Lithuanian: Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 to his abdication in 1668 as well as a claimant to the throne of Sweden from 1648 to 1660. He was the first son of Sigismund III Vasa with his second wife Constance of Austria. John Casimir succeeded his older half-brother, Władysław IV Vasa.

As a prince, John Casimir embarked at Genoa for Spain in 1638 to negotiate a league with Philip IV against France, but was captured by Cardinal Richelieu and imprisoned at Vincennes where he remained for two years. He was released when his brother, Władysław IV, promised never to wage war against France. John Casimir then travelled extensively throughout western Europe and entered the order of Jesuits in Rome in 1643. He was made cardinal by Innocent X, but after returning to Poland, he became a layman and succeeded his brother in 1648. His reign commenced amid the confusion and disasters caused by the great revolt of the Cossacks under Bohdan Khmelnytsky in Ukraine, who had advanced into the very heart of Poland. The power of the king had been stripped of almost all its prerogatives by the growing influence of the nobles.