My current fort has generated 23 artifacts:
Perfect Gem (1)
lace agate
Clothing/Equipment: (5)
shirt (pig tail fiber), vest (pig tail fiber), tunic (cave spider silk), glove (cave spider silk), quiver (giant gray langur leather)
Crafts: (9)
bracelet (alder wood), scepter (dolomite), amulet (cacao wood), bracelet (dolomite), mug (siltstone), earring (cow bone), trumpet (giant gray langur bone), earring (tetrahedrite), earring (tunnel tube wood)
=== So, about 15 "failures" in items of somewhat limited utility unless you have a noble wear them.
Devices (1)
mechanism (dolomite)
Furniture: (6)
armor stand (copper), door (green glass), statue (adamantine), armor stand (bauxite), bed (bauxite), box (green glass)
=== These seven are useful for generating room value and giving passersby something to get a happy thought looking at. The door and statue in particular have been placed in very high traffic areas. The armor stands have been used in the duke's quarters and a heavily used barracks.
Weapons/Armor (1)
spear (adamantine)
=== And the million dwarfbuck item that a Spearlord will carry at some point. An axe might be better, but at least it's not a hammer.
A lot of items got a decent value due to grabbing gems for decoration - I have bauxite deposits and thus a fair number of rubies and sapphires have been dug out. These keep getting grabbed as decorations. I also note a lot of decorations featuring an artifact raw adamantine ring -- this was made at a previous fort of this same civilization.