Much of the Vvardenfell furniture has been inspired, or directly copied, from eastern and asian sources, both current and historical material. You can see it on these benches, on the heavy japanese influence, especially all the lotuses, on the historically accurate pellet making tool and in lots of other places. As long as it's kept within the setting of the game and the race, Dunmer aren't asians after all, even though some elements of their culture may be inspired from the region, I think it's a pretty cool feature. It also makes the homes decorated with these furnishings seem more real and lived in, at least that's the feeling I get from a lot of places on Vvardenfell. Again kudos to the design team, you guys really deserve more praise.