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Folk Art Decorative Objects

FOLK ART STYLE

Folk art is a genre of art that shares the creator’s traditions, offering not just an artistic display but an opportunity to learn about a culture. Antique, new and vintage folk art typically reflects a heritage or location. It can include utilitarian objects and handmade art as diverse as weather vanes, duck decoys, portraiture and paintings, carnival art and quilts.

Quilts are a quintessential part of American folk art but their roots are international, with quilting dating back to Ancient Egypt. The practice spread to Europe and was especially prominent in the Middle Ages, with one of the oldest surviving examples being the Tristan quilt made in Sicily in the 14th century. They were made as bedcovers and clothing, including as a layer for knights to wear beneath their armor. Native American folk art includes functional objects reflecting their heritage, such as baskets, textiles and wooden pieces.

Elsewhere, the vast range of work associated with Mexican folk art includes masks made by Mexican craftspeople for traditional celebrations and ceremonial dances. Mexican masks are part of the country’s folk-art traditions that go back thousands of years and play a role in festivals and theater.

Works in the folk art tradition are valuable because of the skills involved, like weaving, hand-carving wood and even stonework. Many folk artists are self-taught, while some train as apprentices within their community. By using available materials and taking a personal approach to their creations, artists ensure each piece is unique and conveys a story.

During the Great Depression, artistic materials in America were hard to come by, so artisans used discarded wood from cigar boxes and shipping crates to make highly stylized, notched pieces — most often picture frames and boxes — that are today sought after by collectors. This folk art style is called tramp art and was popular from roughly 1870 until the 1940s.

Folk art brings vibrant culture and traditions into your home. Browse an extensive collection of antique, new and vintage folk art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Folk Art
Copper and Wood American Folk Art Boxer Whilrligig
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Spectacular American Folk Art whirligig found in Rockford, IL. Wonderful dry surface paint on boxers. Great working condition.
Category

Early 20th Century American Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Folk Art Magnificent Oxidized Iron Man Sculpture
Located in Miami, FL
Magnificent iron man sculpture. Consists of saw blades as arms, a crumpled bucket as head with a tractor seat as its main body. Two skinny square iron legs keep it all upright and ar...
Category

Late 20th Century American Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Metal

Macramé Zebra and Baby Near Life-Size
Located in Dallas, TX
Uniquely created macrame´ zebra with exceptional detailing and incredible sculptural quality. The shape of this amazing sculpture is created from welded, heavy-gauge wire as is seen ...
Category

20th Century Unknown Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Hemp

Rare 20th Century Wood Carving of Child in Excellent Conditioned, Natural Patina
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rare wood carving of child holding a book.
Category

Early 20th Century Unknown Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood, Paint

Carved Bantam Wearing a Crown
Located in Greenwich, CT
An early 19th century French carved bantam sporting a crown, well carved in pine. Good detailing to face, plumage, tail feathers and feet. Possibly originally from a ring toss game...
Category

19th Century French Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Pine

Indian Carved Yellow Sandstone Yoni Bowl, 19th Century or Earlier
Located in Austin, TX
An unusual Indian carved yellow stone bowl in the form of a yoni, 19th century or earlier, India. Carved from a yellow sandstone, what might be described as Jaisalmer yellow today, ...
Category

19th Century Indian Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Sandstone

1970’s Sandpiper Grove 5 Light Candlebra Signed by Artist Mary Grabill
Located in Charleston, SC
This is a rare mid-century 5 arm Candlebra. By listed artist Mary Grabill. Terra-cotta with a white glaze. About the artist: In the mid-40's Mary turned the family's backyard ...
Category

1970s American Vintage Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

Vintage Wicker Rattan Woven Duck Motif Basket
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Vintage Wicker Rattan Woven Duck Motif Basket. Mid Century large vintage hand woven rattan wicker duck or swan motif basket with a handle. Collectible rattan hand woven duck sculptur...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wicker, Rattan

Small Antique Folky Tramp Art Picture Frame in Gold Paint
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine, small Tramp Art picture frame. With a crazed, flat gold paint or wash. Found in a Pennsylvania estate. Simply a wonderful piece of ...
Category

20th Century Unknown Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Nantucket Round Purse by Jose Formoso Reyes, circa 1950
Located in Nantucket, MA
Nantucket Round Purse by Jose Formoso Reyes, circa 1950, a very early Nantucket diminutive round woven purse from during the first few years Reyes wa...
Category

1950s American Vintage Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Cane, Rattan, Pine

Found and Salvaged Industrial Steel Object Sculpture Figure with Face
Located in Chicago, IL
Made from found industrial objects, this face takes on different looks at every angle. A wedge, sprockets, gears are adhered to a found painted steel plate to complete this "Flatlay Face" Jim Rose Flatlay Face No. 05, 2021 found industrial objects 4.50h x 10.75w x 10.75d in 11.43h x 27.30w x 27.30d cm JR0299 Jim Rose b. 1966, d. 2023 Bio Born in Indiana, Jim Rose lived in Europe until he returned to the United States to attend college. After one year at Bard College, Jim transferred to the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (SAIC) where he graduated in 1988 with a BFA. His skillful interpretation of the Shaker design is a result of intense research and field study of Shaker furniture, architecture, culture and history. After over two decades of dedicated work, he has mastered the minimalism of the Shaker technique and created his own unique visual vernacular. The quilts of Gee's Bend have become a monumental influence taking this artist's work to new levels of unique interpretation and artistry. His selection of aged steel results in a patina directly related to that of aged wood while his colored strips beautifully mimic worn cloth. Each piece of furniture is masterfully made and intended for daily use. Jim Rose’s steel furniture is featured every year at SOFA Chicago for the past 25 years. Jim Rose b. 1966, Wisconsin Education 1989 B.F.A., Sculpture, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL 1988 Student at Large, Welding Technology, Triton College, Chicago, IL 1985 Undergraduate Photography Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Awards 2008 Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship Award, Madison, WI. 2005 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA 2003 Grant Recipient for Shaker Interpretations in Cast Iron, PA Arts Assoc / WI Arts Board 2003 Arts/Industry Residency Program for Visual Artists, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin Solo Exhibitions 2017 New Work, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2012 Simply Steel, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2007 Variation, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003 New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Shaker in Steel / New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2000 Shaker in Steel / New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Hands and Heart to Steel III, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL National Exhibitions 2017-2018 SOFA Chicago – Gallery Victor Armendariz 2016 - 1995 SOFA Chicago, New York, Palm Beach - Ann Nathan Gallery 2011 - 2002 Art Chicago - Ann Nathan Gallery Group Exhibitions 2017 Coming Attractions: Inaugural Exhibition, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2017 Living with Art: The Newman Collection, 108 Contemporary, Tulsa, Oklahoma 2016 Form Follows Function: The Intersection of Art and Craft, The Hardy Gallery, Ephraim, Wi 2015 NEO, Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI 2015 ICFF, Furniture Society, Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY 2013 Vahki Revisited, The Enduring Spirit of a Craft Collection” Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ 2013 Fearless Furniture, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, IN 2013 Inaugural Exhibition, Museum Wisconsin of Art, West Bend, WI 2012 Sitting Pretty: Furniture from RAM’s Collection, Racine Art Museum, WI 2011 Hiding Places: Memory in the Arts, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, WI 2010 Living with Art, Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, NY 2009 Summer in Wisconsin, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2009 High Honors, James Watrous Gallery, Madison, WI 2008 Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Art and Design, NY 2007 Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, Art Association, Jackson, WY 2007 Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX (traveling exhibition) 2006 Show us Your Drawers, Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Marriage of the Minds, Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art, Sturgeon Bay, WI 2006 27th Annual Contemporary Crafts, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ 2006 Containers of All Dimensions, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ 2005 Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA 2004 Right at Home: American Studio Furniture, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. 2004 American Collections, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI 2004 More Than Drawers-Wisconsin Cabinets, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2004 Objects of Wonder, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI 2003 Planting, Potting and Pruning, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, WI 2003 Men at Work, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI 2002 Case Pieces: Contemporary Studio Furniture, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Univ of WI-Madison 2002 Sitting Pretty: Contemporary Wisconsin Chairs, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2001 Anything with a Drawer - Award Recipient, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ 2001 23rd Annual Contemporary Crafts - Award Recipient, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ 2000 New Talent in Craft, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, Wisconsin 2000 Who Knows Where or When, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, Wisconsin 1999 The End is Near! Artists look at the 20th Century, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, WI Selected collections Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, Arizona The Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin Kohler Company, Kohler, Wisconsin Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, Indiana The Chipstone Foundation, Fox Point, Wisconsin Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin Publications “Selected Artists of Door County” Stonehill Publishing, 2016 “Galvanized Chest” Door County Living Magazine, Autumn 2012 “100 Artists of the Midwest” Schiffer Books, 2012 “Piecework” American Craft Magazine, February 2012 “Hiding Places, Memory in the Arts” John Michael Kohler Arts Center, June 2011 “Second Lives, Remixing the Ordinary” Museum of Arts and Design, NY, August 2008 “Studio Furniture” Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC, May 2008 “Discoveries by Designers” Architectural Digest, December 2005 “Contemporary Metal Furniture” Metalsmith Magazine, Winter 2003 “Studio Case Furniture: The Inside Story” American Craft Magazine, October 2002 “Contemporary Studio Case Furniture: The Inside Story” Elvehjem Museum of Art, 2002 “Chicago Style...
Category

2010s American Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Steel

19th Century Walnut and Satin Wood Box With Geometric Inlay
Located in Stamford, CT
Wonderful 19th century American box with intricate and beautiful geometric and star pattern inlay, alternating between walnut and satin wood triangles, squares and bands. Possibly s...
Category

Mid-19th Century American Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Fruitwood, Walnut

Mid-Century Modern "Parents and Child" Marble Stone Sculpture, Kenya
Located in Deland, FL
Introducing a heart-warming abstract sculpture depicting parents with a child in embrace. Hand-carved in solid marble by a Kenyan artisan this exquisite, petite sculpture is the perf...
Category

1970s Kenyan Vintage Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Marble

Americana Folk Art Brass Rooster Weathervane
Located in New York, NY
Americana Folk Art brass weathervane in the form of a rooster perched atop an arrow, with incised details. 22" H x 25.25" W.
Category

20th Century Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Brass

Americana Folk Art Sheet Iron Archer Weathervane
Located in New York, NY
Americana Folk Art weathervane made of sheet iron and in the form of a Native American archer warrior. 23.75" H x 15" W.
Category

20th Century Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Brass

Mexican Antique Arbol de la Vida Folk Art Candelabra Ceramic Day of the Dead
By Alfonso Castillo Orta
Located in Queretaro, Queretaro
Created by late master Alfonso Castillo Orta in 1999 in the town of Izucar de Matamoros, in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The traditional "arboles de l...
Category

1990s Mexican Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic, Clay, Acrylic

Mid Century Fajalauza Handmade Terracotta Ceramic Lebrillo Bowl, Granada Spain
Located in Escalona, Toledo
Beautiful decorative terracotta ceramic bowl (Lebrillo) glazed in white and green Spanish Fajalauza from the mid-20th century, made and hand-painted, in this case with its characteri...
Category

1970s Spanish Vintage Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

20th Century German Hand Painted Oval Bentwood Box
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Beautifully hand painted bride box. Bentwood Pantry Box with floral and figural design. Mildly distressed paint. Oval box with lid. A nice addition to any r...
Category

20th Century German Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Bentwood

Antique English Folk Art Toy Horse
Located in London, GB
Utterly charming one of a kind wooden folk art horse. Totally scratch built from glorious elm and oak with leather bridle. Made in England during the early part of the 20th century. ...
Category

Early 20th Century English Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Hardwood, Elm, Oak

19th Century Swedish Wrought Iron Candlestick
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Good early 19th century Swedish / Scandinavian folk art wrought iron candlestick. Ca 1800 Sweden.
Category

Early 19th Century Swedish Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Iron

Moroccan Tribal Wood Flask
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Moroccan tribal flask. 19th Century studded flasks finely engraved designs. Collector flask in large carved wooden vessel with brass studded and leather covered. Dimensions: 10" x...
Category

19th Century Moroccan Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Antique Cast Iron Black Lamb Doorstop
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Antique cast iron lamb doorstop.
Category

Late 19th Century Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Iron

Royal Doulton Porcelain Figurine, "The Mendicant"
Located in Ferndale, MI
High glazed, finely modeled bone china with exquisite colors. One of designer, Leslie Harradine finest Royal Doulton firgurines, "The Mendicant" (1929...
Category

Early 20th Century English Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Porcelain

Massive Rustic Folk Art Painted Patina Tin Owl Sculpture with Wooden Base
Located in Houston, TX
Large scale folk art style tin owl sculpture with a painted patina. Attached to a wooden base to ensure that the sculpture is stable.
Category

20th Century Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Tin

Wire Bicycle Sculptures
Located in Darnestown, MD
These two finely detailed wire sculptures depict slightly different bicycles. The piece on the left is actually a tricycle and on the right is what is called a bonecruncher. Both are...
Category

1930s Vintage Folk Art Decorative Objects

Vintage Terracotta Monkey
Located in Houston, TX
Terracotta monkey holding a glazed fig, the symbol of fertility, Majorca, circa 1950.
Category

1950s Spanish Vintage Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

Vodka Case Ca. 1900
By Latvia's State Vodka Factory
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Unique vodka crate, holds 24 bottles. The text "VALSTS DEGVINA RIGAS NOLIKTAVA" printed front and back means "STATE VODKA RIGA WAREHOUSE". These cases were used to distribute vodka a...
Category

Early 20th Century Latvian Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Crusty Ramshackle Sanatorium/Institutional Model
Located in Seattle, WA
freaky, spooky yet whimsical carved and painted model of a late 19th century/turn of the century institutional building, possibly a sanitorium. Painted windows and carved chimneys w...
Category

19th Century American Antique Folk Art Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Folk Art decorative objects for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique folk art decorative objects for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage decorative objects created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include decorative objects, folk art, more furniture and collectibles and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, metal and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Folk Art decorative objects made in a specific country, there are Europe, North America, and United States pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original decorative objects, popular names associated with this style include Mosche Bianche, Jim Rose, Berber Tribes of Morocco, and Tonala Pottery. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for decorative objects differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $38 and tops out at $225,000 while the average work can sell for $1,105.

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