Native American Basket Trays

Native American broadly describes any Indigenous people in North America and encompasses hundreds of tribes and groups, all with distinct cultures. Native American–style furniture and decor likewise varies widely, from pieces created by Indigenous people to those appropriated by non-native designers.

Indigenous furniture’s rich heritage includes the bentwood boxes of the Northwest Coast carved from cedar for storing household or ceremonial objects. Generations of Native American people have made baskets for holding household items, with those in the Northeast using sweetgrass and those in the Southeast using pine needles and wicker. Artisans in the Plateau region wove watertight pieces like cradles from plant materials. Although these objects were intricately made, they were usually utilitarian rather than decorative.

The colonization of North America and the removal of Indigenous people from their lands led to the suppression of these practices. Many styles that used Native American motifs — such as Southwestern style, which was heavily influenced by the geometric patterns of Navajo textiles — have historically not involved Indigenous creators and, instead, have taken their traditions without their tribal context.

When decorating a home with Native American–style furniture, it is important to do so respectfully, by understanding the origins of motifs and objects and examining who profits from their sale. There are now Indigenous-led companies, such as Cherokee designer Cray Bauxmont-Flynn’s Amatoya and Totem House Design, promoting Indigenous work in furniture and home decor. Supporting Indigenous artists and artisans is essential to confronting the still pervasive issue of cultural appropriation in design.

Find a collection of Native American living room furniture, folk art, rugs and carpets, decorative objects and other items on 1stDibs.

As decorative objects in your space, antique, new and vintage bowls and baskets make for a versatile addition to any corner of your living room, dining room or the console table in your foyer or entryway. Whether they’re positioned as a focal point for the family dining table or an accent on the shelving in your home office, or perhaps you’re just endeavoring to add minimalist ceramics throughout your home, an alluring art-glass centerpiece bowl or antique rustic fisherman’s basket is an easy way to elevate high-trafficked areas of your apartment or house.

Aside from the obvious functionality that a decorative bowl or basket brings to your kitchen, displaying such items behind the glass doors of a vintage storage cabinet or on your open kitchen shelving allows you to add a touch of personality and flair to the space, particularly if you’re accustomed to serving cocktails while you cook or if the kitchen is a common area for gathering and unpacking the events of the day.

As your bookcase is so much more than a place to, well, store books, adding a decorative bowl or basket — a mid-century modern work or an Art Nouveau–-era piece designed by French art-glass makers Daum — to the space where you keep your art monographs and coveted first editions can draw attention to your treasured library.

For the tranquil California coastal-style interiors you’ve worked so hard to create, fill a hand-carved wooden bowl on your console table with glass fishing floats or seashells, while a tall woven vessel by your front door can be populated with leafy green plants.

For anywhere and everywhere in your home, find a wide variety of antique or modern decorative baskets and bowls on 1stDibs today.