We've had the same breakable china/porcelain plates, bowls, and mugs for 15 years and a lot of hard sailing. We bought them as a set of 8 at K-Mart in 1995. Lived aboard with it for four years - have only broken a couple small bowls. We use an open mesh plastic mat material on the top of the table cloth or wood and just set the china on top of it. Never moves. The advantage of the mesh material is that we only have to use it when we need it.

So - buy what pleases you and use one of the suggestions for non-skid.