Asian Cork Diorama

Cork furniture is back — and for good reason: Renewable, recyclable, lightweight, inexpensive and warm, it seems to have no downside.

The versatile material has cycled in and out of fashion in furniture and interior design since its mid-century heyday, when visionary creators from Edward Wormley to Frank Lloyd Wright used it in some of their most famous work.

Today, the wheel has turned once more in cork’s favor, as designers trend toward more eco-friendly options. In addition to its aforementioned attributes and the fact that it is waterproof and highly insulating, the cork oak trees (native to Portugal and Spain) from whose bark it is made are unharmed by the harvesting.

Cork, in short, is more than just a convenient bottle stopper. As the environmental impact becomes an increasingly important consideration, furniture designers are turning to the material in droves.

Shop a wide variety of cork tables, cork seating and other cork furnishings on 1stDibs.

From Japanese handmade earthenware pottery, originating circa 14,500 B.C. and adorned with elaborate corded patterns known as jōmon, to natural elm case pieces and storage cabinets built in Qing dynasty–era China to mid-century Thai rice-paper charcoal rubbings, antique and vintage Asian art and furniture make for wonderful additions to all kinds of contemporary interiors.

Eastern elements elevate any home’s decor. Introduce zen sensibility to your living room, dining room and bedroom with the neutral color palettes and the natural materials such as rattan, bamboo and elm that we typically associate with traditional Asian furniture. Decorative handwoven embroideries and textiles originating from India and elsewhere on the continent, which can be draped over a bed or sofa or used as a wall hanging, can be as practical as they are functional, just as you wouldn’t seek out Japanese room-divider screens — often decorated with paintings but constructed to be lightweight and mobile — merely for privacy.

With everything from blanket chests to lighting fixtures to sculptures and carvings, it’s easy to tastefully bring serenity to your living space by looking to the treasures for which the East has long been known.

For British-born furniture designer Andrianna Shamaris, the Japanese concept of beauty in imperfection isn’t limited to her Wabi Sabi collection. She embraces it in her New York City apartment as well. In the living area, for instance, she retained the fireplace’s original black marble while swathing its frame and the rest of the room in bright white.

“We left the fireplace very clean and wabi-sabi, so that it blended into the wall,” says Shamaris, who further appointed the space with a hand-carved antique daybed whose plush pillows are upholstered in antique textiles from the Indonesian island of Sumba.

In the growing antique and vintage Asian art and furniture collection on 1stDibs, find ceramics from China, antiquities from Cambodia and a vast range of tables, seating, dining chairs and other items from Japan, India and other countries.