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Folk Art Ceramics

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
Color:  Black
Late 20th Century Pottery Witch's Head Jack-o-lantern
Located in Charlotte, NC
A Late 20th century pottery witches head with hat jack-o-lantern, artist unknown. Ceramic pottery with glaze. Could be used with a candle. Likely crafted in the USA. Measures: 10....
Category

Late 20th Century American Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery, Paint

Abercrombie & Fitch Ceramic Piggy Bank
Located in Atlanta, GA
Abercrombie & Fitch ceramic piggy bank, England, circa 1950s. Modeled after their famous leather animal toys and footstools, this little ...
Category

1950s English Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Vintage Blue and White Delft Porcelain Spoon Rack
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Stunning Vintage Delfts Blauw blue and white porcelain spoon rack in very good condition. Beautiful Dutch Delft hanging wall rack with blue and white han...
Category

Mid-20th Century Dutch Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Porcelain

Black Clay Barro Negro Pottery Hot Chocolate Set Oaxaca Mexico Mugs & Fish Tray
Located in Topeka, KS
Handsome black clay or barro negro pottery hot chocolate set most likely from Oaxaca, Mexico consisting of 4 mugs, tray with Fish design, and wooden ...
Category

20th Century Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Clay

Mid Century Ceramic Vessel Vase or Carafe in Blue and Brown, Signed
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
A unique ceramic jug or vase with a handle. This piece is created from ceramic and circular in form. The body is decorated in a textured blue and brown design. The neck is narrow, an...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

Kähler, Denmark, Bowl in Black Glazed Ceramics with Blue and White Waves
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Kähler, Denmark. Bowl in black glazed ceramics with blue and white waves along the edge, 1930s-1940s. Measures: 17 x 7 cm. In very good condition. Signed.
Category

1930s Danish Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Michael Andersen Ceramics from Bornholm, a Pair of Heads, National Costume
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Michael Andersen ceramics from Bornholm. A pair of heads, national costume, hand painted. Measures: 14.5 x 12.5 cm. Perfect condition.
Category

20th Century Danish Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Related Items
Blue and White Chinoiserie Lobed Dish, Delft, 1680-1700
Located in ROSSUM, GE
Blue and white chinoiserie lobed dish. Delft, 1680-1700 Dimensions: diameter 35 cm / 13.77 in. The blue and white lobed dish is composed of nine wide lobes around a nine-fold c...
Category

Late 17th Century Dutch Antique Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Folk Art Pottery Charger, Hand Painted Sheep, Signed, Greece, Circa 1970's
Located in Chatham, ON
M. MIXA?HE - Vintage folk art pottery charger or wall plate - large size - hand made and hand painted and incised with a sheep and flowers - applied slip decorative scrolls to the ba...
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Mid-20th Century Greek Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Omersa for Abercrombie Fitch Leather Kangaroo #1
Located in Bradenton, FL
Rare Dimitri Omersa for Abercrombie & Fitch leather figural kangaroo magazine stand. Made of top quality full grain leather and is in vintage condition. Pouch can be used to hold mis...
Category

20th Century English Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Leather

Tonala Folk Art Pottery Charger, Hand Painted Rabbit, Mexico, circa 1970's
Located in Chatham, ON
Tonala folk art pottery charger or wall plate - large size - hand made and hand painted with a rabbit, bird and foliage - elaborate border - unsigned - Mexico - circa 1970's. Excellent vintage condition - no loss - no damage - no restoration - original metal hanger...
Category

Late 20th Century Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

Vintage Dimitri Omersa Leather Elephant for Abercrombie and Fitch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Dimitri Omersa leather elephant for abercrombie and fitch.
Category

1960s English Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Leather

Tonala Folk Art Pottery Charger, Hand Painted Swan, Mexico, Circa 1970's
Located in Chatham, ON
Tonala folk art pottery charger or wall plate - large size - hand made and hand painted with a swan and flowers - elaborate border - unsigned - Mexico - circa 1970's. Excellent v...
Category

Late 20th Century Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

Japanese Antique Manekineko Piggy Bank 1960s
Located in Paris, FR
This is a vintage piggy bank of manekineko cat. It is made with Pottery and it was made around 1960s in Showa era. The maneki-neko is a common Jap...
Category

Late 20th Century Japanese Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery, Plastic

Large Stoneware Floor Vase in Ceramic by Danish Artist Ole Victor, 2022
Located in Odense, DK
Large ceramic floor vase with glaze in variations of beige and pastel colors, made by Danish artist Ole Victor, 2022. Ole Victor is a Danish artist who a...
Category

2010s Danish Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Stoneware

Italy Mid-18th Century Pair of Ceramic Carafes in White and Blue for Pharmacy
Located in Brescia, IT
In the past, this pair of beautiful ceramics carafes, was utilized in a Pharmacy to contain erbs and spices infusions. The carafes shows all signs of the time, but they remain a pai...
Category

Mid-18th Century Italian Antique Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Moroccan Ceramic Bowl
Located in Lohr, Bavaria, DE
Beautiful brass mounted antique ceramic bowl. Very good condition and Color.
Category

20th Century Moroccan Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Moroccan Ceramic Bowl
Moroccan Ceramic Bowl
H 3.55 in Dm 13.39 in
Peter Shire Exp Signed Ceramic Pottery Splatter Tall Mug Sculpture, Dated 1981
Located in Studio City, CA
A wonderful work by famed Los Angeles (Echo Park), California-based artist Peter Shire who was a founding member (along with Italian designer Ettore Sottsass and others) of The Memphis Group, an international design movement that came out of Italy during the 1980s (1980-1988), and specialized in postmodern furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass, and metal objects. This work is from 1981 and is signed with Shire's customary "EXP" pottery (Echo Park Pottery...
Category

1980s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Quimper French Hand Painted Faience Pottery Flask
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A stylish French faience pottery hand painted flask with a Breton figure by Quimper and dating from the latter 19th century. The small rounded flask has a ...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery

Quimper French Hand Painted Faience Pottery Flask
Quimper French Hand Painted Faience Pottery Flask
Free Shipping
H 3.65 in Dm 3.15 in
Previously Available Items
MARVIN BAILEY Southern Folk Art 8" Face Jug
Located in Charlotte, NC
A Southern Folk Art pottery Face jug by Lancaster, South Carolina, USA native, Marvin Bailey. A self taught potter that found his fondness for pottery through...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery, Clay

Set of 3 Ken Edwards Tonalá Jalisco Stoneware Folk Art Candleholders
Located in Mexico City, MX
A set of Tonalá, Jalisco stoneware candleholders from Ken Edwards' workshop. All 3 candleholders are signed on the bottom. The candleholders show different hand-painted decorations. ...
Category

1980s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Stoneware

Ancient Barro Pot #11 from Mexico, circa 1940
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Circa 1940, we offer this fantastic ancient barro pot from Mexico, made in Puebla México hand crafted . This style of pottery is very rare, originall...
Category

1940s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Terracotta

Ancient Barro Pot #10 from Mexico, circa 1940
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Circa 1940, We offer this fantastic ancient barro pot from Mexico, made in Puebla México hand crafted. This style of pottery is very rare, originally...
Category

1940s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Terracotta

Ancient Barro Pot #4 from Mexico, Circa 1940
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Circa 1940, We offer this fantastic ancient barro pot from Mexico, made in Puebla México hand crafted. This style of pottery is very rare, originally...
Category

1940s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Terracotta

Ancient Barro Pot #4 from Mexico, Circa 1940
Ancient Barro Pot #4 from Mexico, Circa 1940
H 19.69 in W 17.33 in D 20.48 in
Ancient Barro Pot #5 from Mexico, Circa 1940
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Circa 1940, we offer this fantastic ancient barro pot from Mexico, made in Puebla México hand crafted . This style of pottery is very rare, originall...
Category

1940s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Terracotta

Ancient Barro Pot #5 from Mexico, Circa 1940
Ancient Barro Pot #5 from Mexico, Circa 1940
H 19.69 in W 17.33 in D 20.48 in
Ancient Barro Pot from Mexico, Circa 1940
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Circa 1940, We offer this fantastic ancient barro pot from Mexico, made in Puebla México hand crafted . This style of pottery is very rare, originall...
Category

1940s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Terracotta

Ancient Barro Pot from Mexico, Circa 1940
Ancient Barro Pot from Mexico, Circa 1940
H 16.93 in W 17.33 in L 16.93 in
Höganäs, Collection of Four Pairs of Miniature Clogs in Ceramic, 1970s
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Höganäs, Collection of four pairs of miniature clogs in ceramic, 1970s. in very good condition. Stamped: Höganäs, LHN. Largest measures: 5 x 2 cm.
Category

1970s Danish Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Large Stoneware Pottery Hand Crafted Sculpture 'Rabbit" by Richard Burkett
Located in Buffalo, NY
Large Stoneware Pottery handcrafted Sculpture 'Rabbit" by Richard Burkett, , Richard Burkett is a Professor of Art at San Diego State University, teaching all levels of ceramics for the past 28 years, and focusing on soda firing, glazes, and vessel forms – both functional and sculptural. He received the B.A. degree in Art from Lawrence University, and the M.F.A. degree in both ceramics and photography from Indiana University in 1986. From 1973 to 1983 he ran the Wild Rose Pottery in Bainbridge, Indiana. Richard Burkett has traveled extensively in Ecuador over the last 20 years with Joe Molinaro of Eastern Kentucky University, researching and photographing Ecuadorian potters and documenting indigenous pottery cultures in the Amazon basin. He recently designed and co- authored a book on Ecuadorian Kichwa pottery with Joe Molinaro: Mythical Figures & Mucawas: Ceramics from the Ecuadorian Amazon. One of the first ceramists to make extensive use of computers and the Internet, Burkett has lectured internationally on ceramics at events in Korea, Ecuador, Sweden, Turkey, and Finland. He is the author of HyperGlaze, educational glaze calculation software for artists, and the co-author of the sixth edition of Ceramics: A Potter’s Handbook, one of the most widely used ceramics textbooks. He selected porcelain artists and wrote essays for the Lark book Porcelain Masters: major works by leading artists. In his spare time he plays bluegrass music. Artist Statement: My work hovers between pottery and sculpture. Some pieces move in a sculptural direction, yet still derive some of their form from vestiges of my more utilitarian work. I find this a fascinating interplay, with one body of work informing the other and making both stronger for their interaction. My influences include a diverse range of mostly vessel-oriented forms, from the often mysterious chemical glassware and porcelain I grew up with in my father’s early 1900s-era chemical laboratory, to ancient South American pottery...
Category

1970s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Stoneware

Kähler, HAK, Denmark Glazed Stoneware Vase, 1930s-1940s
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Kähler, HAK, Denmark glazed stoneware vase, 1930s-1940s. Stamped. Measures: 22.5 cm. x 14 cm. In perfect condition.
Category

1930s Danish Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Boris Krilov, Russian-Danish Artist Born in Moscow, 1891, Figure in Earthenware
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Boris Krilov, Russian-Danish artist. Born in Moscow in 1891. Figure in earthenware decorated in colors Russian in festive law. circa 1940s-1950s. Signed B. Krilov on the soc...
Category

1940s Russian Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Folk Art ceramics for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique folk art ceramics for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the Late 20th Century, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage ceramics created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include serveware, ceramics, silver and glass, folk art, decorative objects and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with ceramic, pottery and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Folk Art ceramics 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 ceramics, popular names associated with this style include Delft, Royal Copenhagen, Sarreguemines, 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 ceramics differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $60 and tops out at $5,500 while the average work can sell for $493.

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