Here is an example of use. "I love to visit Essex because it has so many antique shops. I have my living room furnished with antique furniture. I picked up that wonderful mirror there. Isn't the frame beautiful?" There is no such thing as an "artifact shop." As a matter of fact, it may be illegal to sell them.
The word "artifact" is associated with the words "museum," "anthropology," and "archaeology." The word "antique" is associated with the words "beauty," "craftsmanship," "collector," and "valuable."
Artifacts may or may not be beautiful. They are interesting because they are characteristic of a culture or a civilization.
A century from now, when we control computers by thought, computer mice will be "artifacts." You will go to a museum and there will be a display case with a hundred different computer mice in them. This one is old and scratched up but it is important because it is a rare example of a one-button mouse. This one is small, green, and in the shape of a frog. This shows us that in this culture, mice were used by children. You can see that the older mice have cords attached to them, while the newer ones are wireless. Some of them may be beautiful, or at least "elegant" in design, but they are all artifacts of early 21st century civilization.