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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
Period: Late 20th Century
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

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

Vintage Playful Teapot with Crab-like Features by Allan Hellman Sweden 1982
Located in Grythyttan, SE
This playful and unique teapot, has different sides to it. Sometimes it looks like just a quirky tea pot with a bright green inside. But in the view from some angles , this three leg...
Category

1980s Swedish Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Clay

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

VIETRI - Vintage Hand Painted & Wheel Thrown Pitcher - Italy - 20th Century
Located in Chatham, ON
VIETRI - Vintage hand painted and wheel thrown terracotta pitcher - featuring a scenic view of the Amalfi coast - sponge decorated back with white glazed interior - signed on the bac...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

1970 Outsider Art Figural Stoneware Decorative Plate
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Charming outsider art charger / decorative plate depicting a jovial young girl. Pleasant color palette and figure with age-appropriate crazing to the glaze...
Category

1970s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Stoneware

Brown Ceramic Oyster Dip and Chip Serving Platter
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
A cream and brown serving platter for dip and chips. Created to look like an oyster shell, this unique serving platter features a mini version of itself at the center for dip or sals...
Category

1980s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

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 Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Related Items
Tlaquepaque Tonala Jug, Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico, C1940
By Pre-Columbian
Located in London, GB
A wonderfully decorative earthenware jug from the Tonala valley, depicting a ‘Tlaquepaque’ scene with the most beautiful glazed artisanal composition. Graphic vivid colours depicting...
Category

1940s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Earthenware, Pottery

Majolica Oyster Plate with Crab Sarreguemines
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica oyster plate with crab in the center and shell accents, circa 1960 signed Sarreguemines.
Category

1960s French Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Mexican Vintage Ken Edwards Tonala Pottery Hand Painted Quail Bird
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Vintage Ken Edwards Mexican ceramic quail bird form Tonala Pottery. Beautiful vintage Mexican hand made and hand painted TONALA Art Pottery. Deco...
Category

Mid-20th Century Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery

Silent Teapot
Located in Helsinki, FI
Silent teapot is a porcelain handmade teapot made by the designer in Helsinki,Finland.
Category

2010s Finnish Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Porcelain

Silent Teapot
Silent Teapot
H 6.3 in W 4.73 in D 6.3 in
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...
Category

Mid-20th Century Greek Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Mexican Vintage Tonala Pottery Hand Painted Bird
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Vintage Mexican Tonala hand painted pottery bird Folk Art. Flora de la Cruz Acapulco Gro Mexico hand painted bird dove ceramic. Warm earth tone polychrome colors with abstract desi...
Category

Mid-20th Century Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Pottery

Large 19th Century Majolica Pitcher made by Nimy
Located in Casteren, Noord-Brabant
Large Majolica Ceramic Pitcher. Decorated with a pattern of apples. With very bright colors. Most likely a production from the Belgian brand Nimy. The pitcher is in good condition. ...
Category

1890s Belgian Antique Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Majolica

Large 19th Century Majolica Pitcher made by Nimy
Large 19th Century Majolica Pitcher made by Nimy
Free Shipping
H 10.63 in W 7.88 in D 6.3 in
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

Mexican Ceramic Corn Skull Sculpture Hand Crafted Folk Art, Edition 1/30
Located in Queretaro, Queretaro
“My purpose in making this skull is to represent the different types of native maize that since remote times have brought food security to our ancestors, giving them the time to develop the knowledge and arts to the extent they did,” says Mexican ceramist Omar Hernández...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Clay

Mexican Tonala Hand Painted Colorful Pottery Dove
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Vintage Mexican Tonala hand painted pottery dove Folk Art. Rita Tilleya Yelapa Mexico hand painted ceramic bird dove. Warm earth tone polychrome color...
Category

Mid-20th Century Mexican 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
Robert Maxwell Signed Large Mid-Century Modern California Studio Pottery Charger
Located in Studio City, CA
A wonderfully made and beautifully designed Mid-Century Modern pottery charger by famed California potter and sculptor Robert Maxwell. Maxwell co-founded Earthgender pottery with fellow potter David Cressey. This charger/platter was made at his Venice beach, California Pottery studio in the early 1960s as verified by his wife. It is a very rare piece in respect to design, pattern, and sheer Size/heft (it is a very heavy work). We have not seen another quite like it. Apparently, he only made a few with some filled with melted glass to create the design/pattern. Signed by Maxwell on the base. Would clearly be a great addition to any mid-century pottery/ceramics collection...
Category

1960s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery

Previously Available Items
Large Tonala El Palomar Pottery Lotus Plate by Ken Edwards
Located in Vallejo, CA
A large Tonala el Palomar Mexican folk art pottery plate in the lotus design by Ken Edwards. Beautiful handpainted accents in blue and brown glazes. Marked ...
Category

Late 20th Century Mexican Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery

Vintage Terra Cotta Lion Studio Pottery Plate
Located in Vallejo, CA
A large vintage studio pottery plate with the image of stylized lion in the center. Glossy terra cotta and black glazes. Marked on the back by the maker.
Category

Late 20th Century Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery

Set of 6 Mugs - Staffordshire Old Granite English "Hearts and Flowers"
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Set of 6 tea or coffee mugs - Staffordshire "Old Granite" Hearts & Flowers. Made in England by Johnson Bros "a genuine hand engraving" Detergent and acid resistant, dishwasher safe i...
Category

Late 20th Century English Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ironstone

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

Rare Ceramic Rust Column Vase
Located in San Diego, CA
Beautiful vintage and rare ceramic piece. This beautiful vase is column shaped and presents a glaze technique and color that imitates shades of rust. Browns, yellows, gold hues perme...
Category

1980s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Ceramic Hat Yellow and Green Drip Glazed Chip and Dip Platter 1970s Era
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
Ceramic hat themed platter with ribbon. A beautiful accent to any soirée. Round in form, this dish is shaped like a sun hat or cowboy hat. It reminds of a 1970s hat. Envision a portr...
Category

1970s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

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

Ceramic Horse Pitchers from Metepec, State of Mexico, 1980s
Located in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
Pair of ceramic horse pitchers once used to serve pulque (fermented agave beverage). Glazed and painted.
Category

1980s Mexican Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Paint, Ceramic, Terracotta

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

David Macdonald Lidded Pottery Vessel, Signed and Dated
By David Macdonald
Located in New York, NY
An art pottery vessel by American ceramic artist David Macdonald, with stylized rope loop as handle, the lid and body decorated with glazed incising. M...
Category

1980s American Vintage Folk Art Ceramics

Materials

Pottery

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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