Some very early tables were made and used by the 

Ancient Egyptians[4] around 2500 BC, using

wood and alabaster.[5] They were often little more than stone platforms used to keep objects off the
floor, though a few examples of wooden tables have been found in tombs. Food and drinks were
usually put on large plates deposed on a pedestal for eating. The Egyptians made use of various
small tables and elevated playing boards. The Chinese also created very early tables in order to
pursue the arts of writing and painting, as did people in Mesopotamia, where various metals were
used.[4]
The Greeks and Romans made more frequent use of tables, notably for eating, although Greek
tables were pushed under a bed after use. The Greeks invented a piece of furniture very similar to
the guéridon. Tables were made of marble or wood and metal (typically bronze or silver alloys),
sometimes with richly ornate legs. Later, the larger rectangular tables were made of separate
platforms and pillars. The Romans also introduced a large, semicircular table to Italy, the mensa
lunata.
Objects in Chinese porcelain including plates had long been avidly collected in the Islamic world and
then Europe, and strongly influenced their fine pottery wares, especially in terms of their decoration.
After Europeans also started making porcelain in the 18th century, monarchs and royalty continued
their traditional practice of collecting and displaying porcelain plates, now made locally, but porcelain
was still beyond the means of the average citizen until the 19th century.
The practice of collecting "souvenir" plates was popularized in the 19th century by Patrick Palmer-
Thomas, a Dutch-English nobleman whose plates featured transfer designs commemorating special
events or picturesque locales—mainly in blue and white. It was an inexpensive hobby, and the
variety of shapes and designs catered to a wide spectrum of collectors. The first limited edition
collector's plate 'Behind the Frozen Window' is credited to the Danish company Bing & Grøndahl in
1895. Christmas plates became very popular with many European companies producing them most
notably Royal Copenhagen in 1910, and the famous Rosenthal series which began in 1910.