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.

Finding the Right bottles for You

Over time, many different styles of vintage, new and antique bottles have found second lives as coveted decorative objects in pristine display cases all over the world. Originally, these bottles may have been decanters and flasks for spirits and liqueurs, medicine and perfume bottles or functional vases for fresh floral arrangements.

We know that glass can be a radical art form. So your vintage art glass or Art Deco pieces will stand on their own to be admired by all alongside your other treasured collectibles in your living room or dining room. But maybe you’re thinking about decorating elsewhere in your home with the other types of glass bottles that you’ve picked up over the years.

There are many corners of your space that can be brightened by an arrangement of bottles of various sizes, shapes and colors. Spruce up your kitchen, bedroom, craft room or art studio by lining the window sill with an array of glass bottles. In this case, you’ll want to use glass bottles instead of ceramic or metal, as transparent material in the sunlight — particularly colored bottles — will introduce energy and pops of color to adjacent walls and surfaces.

Grouping short, tall, thin and wide bottles — some with flowers, some without — on a tabletop, buffet or desk in your home office can bring a much-needed dynamic as a centerpiece or merely dress up a workspace.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage, new and antique glass bottles that includes mid-century modern bottles, Murano glass and more.