Arts and Crafts

About Arts and Crafts Antiques

The Arts and Crafts movement that swept the United States and Great Britain from roughly 1880 to 1920 was a response to the industrialization of the late 19th century. It was a call on the part of thinkers, poets, artists, and designers to return to a handmade aesthetic, in which craftsmanship was paramount, design was nature-inspired , and construction methods were straightforward, simple, and undisguised.

English art critic John Ruskin had actually articulated the movement’s founding principles several decades earlier. He considered the prevailing Victorian aesthetic decadent and argued for working conditions that considered the happiness of craftsmen. Pattern designer William Morris put Ruskin’s theories into practice when he established Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861 to create everything from furniture to wallpaper to fabrics to tapestries...

Another craftsman to put the ideals of Arts and Crafts into action was Charles Robert Ashbee, who established his Guild of Handicraft in 1888 in the slums of London’s East End. The goal was to produce furniture, metalware, and jewelry in an atmosphere of fair wages, good working conditions, and cooperation.

Most British artists of the day did not take the movement’s social side that far. Instead, they contented themselves to producing furniture, ceramics, metalwork, and jewelry that hued to the visual principles of the movement, which got its formal name of Arts and Crafts in 1888.

Liberty & Co. in London brought the movement to the masses with chairs, plant stands, bookcases, and buffets, mostly in oak and mahogany. Individual designers of the day included William De Morgan, whose earthenware vases often suggested Persian influences.

Scotsman Charles Rennie Mackintosh, also considered a practitioner of Art Nouveau (which ran concurrently with the Arts and Crafts period), was another leader. From his Glasgow workshop, he produced handsome desks and other pieces of furniture. His high-backed chairs, especially the ones with trellis backs, are considered his signature.

Robert “Mouseman” Thompson arrived on the scene a little later. His charming gimmick was to adorn a carved mouse on the side of every piece of furniture he made.

In the United States, the Arts and Crafts movement was warmly embraced. Gustav Stickley published a highly influential magazine called The Craftsman from 1901 to 1916. Through his Craftsman Workshops in Syracuse, New York, he also produced furniture and metalwork.

Two of Stickley’s brothers, John George and Albert, established their own firm, Stickley Bros. Co., in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1891. After John George left to start yet another Stickley company with yet another brother (L. & J. G. Stickley in Fayetteville, New York with brother Leopold), Albert carried on at Stickley Bros., eventually labeling his pieces with a tag that read "Quaint Furniture."

Leopold and John George produced pieces for one of the 20th century's greatest architects, Frank Lloyd Wright. Today Wright is more closely associated with what we now call the Prairie School, a type of architecture that emphasized horizontal lines and eschewed ornamentation. But at the turn of the 20th century, he was considered one of the leading practitioners of Arts and Crafts. Importantly, Leopold and John George were not above using mechanical techniques to produce their pieces. Thus, they embraced the aesthetic of Arts and Crafts if not its social and philosophical underpinnings.

Louis Comfort Tiffany was perhaps even more famous than Stickley, although like Macintosh, his style straddled Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau. Some of the finest examples of the former are his lamps with ceramic bases by Grueby Faience Company of Massachusetts.

Speaking of ceramics, the oldest pottery in the United States, Fulper Pottery Company, also became a proponent of Arts and Crafts with its 1909 Vasecraft line. Rookwood Pottery was a breeding ground for numerous Arts and Crafts ceramists — at one time or another, Artus Van Briggle, Matthew A. Daly William P. MacDonald, Albert Valentien, and John D. Wareham were all on staff.

More difficult to categorize was George Ohr, the so-called "Mad Potter of Biloxi, Mississippi," whose deformed and pinched vases fairly drip with candy-colored glazes. Newcomb College pottery from New Orleans went the other way, promoting simply-shaped vases and plates, usually with floral decorations in soft, pastel glazes.

Regions developed their own specialties. New York was the home of Roycroft, which excelled in copper objects for the home, handmade books, and fine wooden furniture. In Northern California, Arequipa Pottery of Fairfax imported future Fiesta visionary Frederick H. Rhead to design its pieces from 1910-1912. Dick Van Earp was another San Francisco Bay Area artisan of renown: His metal vases featured his trademark "warty" surface caused by hand-hammering.

In Southern California, Pasadena was the center for Arts and Crafts. In 1908, architects Charles Sumner and Henry Matthew Greene designed what many consider to be the movement’s architectural masterpiece for David and Mary Gamble. A year later, tilemaker Ernest T. Bachelder established a school devoted to the movement.

Meanwhile, in Chicago and Boston, jewelry in the Arts and Crafts style was very popular. The Kalo Shop opened in Chicago in 1900. And in Boston, Frank Gardner Hale and Edward E. Oakes were among that city’s leading jewelry designers.

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Interviews & Articles

An Interview With Roycroft Arts and Crafts Metalwork Collector David Kornacki

I started collecting Roycroft around 1992 when I visited the Peter Roberts Gallery in New York City. That was sort … [more]

An Interview With Arts and Crafts Silver and Jewelry Collector Paul Somerson

How did I get started collecting Arts and Crafts silver? My wife and I had been collecting Arts and Crafts items as… [more]

An Interview with Arts and Crafts Jewelry Collector and Author Elyse Karlin

I started collecting jewelry when I was about 13 years old. I was very close to an interior designer who took me to… [more]

An Interview With Rookwood Art Pottery Collector Riley Humler

I don’t remember the first Rookwood piece I ever bought, that’s getting close to 40 years ago. But I must have like… [more]



Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

LACMA Arts and Crafts

LACMA Arts and Crafts

This microsite from the LA County Museum of Art provides a good overview of the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe … [read review or visit site]

Modernism

Modernism

An overview by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts of the design movements between 1880 and 1940 that comprised Moder… [read review or visit site]

Chicago Silver

Chicago Silver

Paul Somerson's incredible reference on handwrought metalwork from the American Arts and Crafts movement of the ear… [read review or visit site]

1910 Metal

1910 Metal

A detailed tribute to the lesser-known artistic metalwork craftsmen of the Arts and Crafts movement. In addition t… [read review or visit site]

Benedict Studio

Benedict Studio

Dedicated to art metalwork produced in Syracuse, New York during the height of the Art and Crafts movement, this si… [read review or visit site]


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Other Great Reference Sites: Arts and Crafts

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Mission Oak Antique Stickley Settle Sofa Or Couch$2,995 Ends Tuesday 22 bids 23 watchers
Gustav Stickley #68 Hall Mirror With Iron Hooks$1,050 Ends Tuesday 10 bids 31 watchers
Grueby Art Pottery Vase W/leaves & Buds-arts & Crafts $898.88 Ends Tuesday 9 bids 49 watchers
Large Wheatley Arts & Crafts Matte Brown Buttress Vase$898.00 Ends Saturday 8 bids 29 watchers
Roycroft "american Beauty" Hammered Copper Vase$875.00 Ends Thursday 17 bids 64 watchers
Van Briggle 1904 Arts & Crafts Mission Art Pottery Old$750.00 Ends Monday 11 bids 45 watchers
Wheatley Art Pottery Vase Leaves & Buds-arts & Crafts $606.06 Ends Thursday 11 bids 77 watchers
Gustav Stickley Copper & Brass Umbrella Or Plant Stand$600.00 Ends in 9 hours 10 bids 72 watchers
Arts & Crafts Tiffany Studios Bronze Box Abalone Grapes$600.00 Ends in 13 hours 4 bids 11 watchers
Arts & Crafts Murrle Bennett Knox Silver Enamel Pendant$548.86 Ends Saturday 6 bids 96 watchers
Gustav Stickley Mission Oak Dining Table $510.00 Ends Tuesday 4 bids 17 watchers
Stickley 3 Panel Mission Oak Butterfly Screen 70" Mint!$500.00 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 33 watchers
Bernina Embroidery Unit- New - W/ Art Design Software$405.00 Ends Sunday 33 bids 56 watchers
Randahl Sterling ~ Arts & Crafts ~ Large Bowl Hammered$405.00 Ends Monday 3 bids 29 watchers
Heintz Arts & Crafts Copper & Silver Boudoir Lamp Nr$400.00 Ends Sunday 33 bids 71 watchers
Antique Arts & Crafts Oil Painting, Newcomb Art Pottery$375.00 Ends Sunday 2 bids 9 watchers
California Faience Arts & Crafts Art Pottery Iris Tile$331.00 Ends Saturday 7 bids 26 watchers
Grueby? Arts & Crafts Galleon Ship 7-color Tile$328.00 Ends Saturday 4 bids 24 watchers
Biltmore Wood Carvers Bowl N.c. 1900-1935 Arts Crafts$312.00 Ends Sunday 8 bids 12 watchers
Arts And Crafts Reverse Painted Lamp And Base$305.00 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 28 watchers
Important Signed Gladys Owen Arts & Crafts Tapestry$299.99 Ends Sunday 1 bid 9 watchers
Arts & Crafts Murrle Bennett Knox Silver Enamel Pendant$288.67 Ends Friday 4 bids 52 watchers
Arts & Crafts Boston Shreve Sterling Silver Tea Set$286.01 Ends Sunday 5 bids 20 watchers
Roseville Huge Carnelian Ii Arts Crafts Vase Cool Glaze$281.00 Ends Sunday 6 bids 14 watchers
Antique American Mission Oak Filing Cabinet Bookcase$260.00 Ends Sunday 9 bids 34 watchers
Arts & Crafts Benham & Froud C Dresser Coal Box Scuttle$239.55 Ends Sunday 7 bids 27 watchers
Pair Antique Maw & Co Arts & Crafts Vases Dragons $228.67 Ends Monday 1 bid 6 watchers
Matte Green Rookwood Vase 1917 Arts & Crafts Artist Nr$222.39 Ends in 10 hours 10 bids 28 watchers
Old British Arts & Crafts Armenian Potteries Iznik Type$202.50 Ends Wednesday 35 bids 23 watchers
Antique American Mission Oak Buffet Sideboard 1900 $202.50 Ends Sunday 4 bids 33 watchers
Roseville Carnelian Ii Large Arts & Crafts Vase 12" $202.50 Ends Sunday 3 bids 8 watchers
Arts And Crafts Signed Pottery Hamshire 138 Art Pottery$202.50 Ends in 2 hours 6 bids 19 watchers
Adelaide Robineau Arts & Crafts Vase Signed Ar 1922$202.50 Ends Saturday 8 bids 33 watchers
19c Arts Crafts Stickley Roycroft Era Copper Oil Lamp $202.50 Ends Monday 4 bids 40 watchers
20s Miller Arts & Crafts Caramel Red Slag Antique Lamp$202.50 Ends Sunday 5 bids 31 watchers
Huge Fulper 4-handle Arts & Crafts Blue Flambe 13" Vase$202.02 Ends Saturday 4 bids 31 watchers
Old Stickley Armoire 4 Tv Doors Slide Back Into Armoi$201.00 Ends Tuesday 5 bids 11 watchers
Arts & Crafts Deco Rembrandt Floor Lamp Original Shade$199.99 Ends Thursday 1 bid 2 watchers
Arts Crafts Liberty & Co Tudric Pewter Card Tray Knox$193.62 Ends Monday 7 bids 54 watchers
Ephraim Faience Arts & Crafts Pottery Vase Signed$190.50 Ends Sunday 6 bids 23 watchers
Fulper Arts & Crafts Buttress Vase Mirror Black Flambe$190.05 Ends Saturday 8 bids 27 watchers
World Globe Vintage Pre Ww2 Arts & Craft Mission Tibet $190.00 Ends Sunday 16 bids 63 watchers
Art Crafts Shop Buffalo Tall Candlestick Pre-heintz$189.50 Ends Wednesday 6 bids 28 watchers
Fine Stickley Era Original, Untouched Emeralite Lamp,nr$187.50 Ends Sunday 12 bids 48 watchers
Mission Arts & Crafts Show Case Display Stickley Era$177.50 Ends Sunday 3 bids 11 watchers
Dirk Van Erp Arts And Crafts Copper Bowl$177.50 Ends Wednesday 5 bids 17 watchers
Large Marblehead Arts & Crafts Matte Gray Vase Mint$161.50 Ends Saturday 5 bids 9 watchers
Roycroft Mission Arts Crafts Hammered Copper Bowl Dish$152.50 Ends Tuesday 5 bids 31 watchers
Pair 1920 Arts & Crafts Bronze Sconcs~tudor~gothic~nice$152.50 Ends Sunday 3 bids 5 watchers
Arts & Craft Area Rug$150.00 Ends in 11 hours 1 bid
Antique 1920s Mica Arts & Crafts Mission Lamp Sahde$150.00 Ends Sunday 2 bids 10 watchers
Pr Antique Arts & Crafts French Art Pottery Vases $149.99 Ends in 9 hours 1 bid 2 watchers
Lionel Salmon Tacoma Wa Arts & Crafts Mountain Painting$142.50 Ends Sunday 4 bids 8 watchers
California Faience Arts & Crafts Art Pottery Vase Mint$127.50 Ends Saturday 4 bids 6 watchers
Teco 10" Matte Green Arts Crafts Art Pottery Vase Mint$127.50 Ends Saturday 5 bids 16 watchers
Antique/old Silver&pewter Arts&crafts Ruskin Earrings$126.54 Ends Sunday 12 bids 32 watchers
Weller Arts & Crafts Matte Green Two Handle Vase$125.95 Ends Tuesday 5 bids 21 watchers
Sterling Arts&crafts Serving Spoon By Shreve&co. 9 3/8"$124.99 Ends in 10 hours 1 bid 16 watchers
Antique Mission Oak Arts And Crafts Hall Tree, Unique!!$119.00 Ends Sunday 2 bids 7 watchers
Rare Arts & Crafts Aesop's Fables Charles Robinson 1895$117.50 Ends Monday 8 bids 14 watchers

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Recent News: Arts and Crafts

Source: Google News

Travis: Colour, curtains can update Crafstman style
yourhome.ca, March 20th

A: Craftsman Style in the United States stems from the Arts and Crafts movement in England that took place near the end of the 19th century...Read more

Wirral buyers get first look at Redrow's new Heritage Collection
Easier (press release), March 19th

styles, shapes, colours and textures of the Arts and Crafts movement but with high-specification interiors styled for modern living...Read more

Taste, tradition and trendiness
The Almanac Online, March 19th

"I love Arts and Crafts movement, but I don't like dark houses," Jeffries said, so she and Kahle worked to create a "California Craftsman" with more light...Read more

Gallery listings
The Spokesman Review, March 18th

115 S. Adams St., Suite A. (509) 458-5517 Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture - “The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest,” touring exhibit...Read more

Back to the Futurists
New York Times (blog), March 17th

The earlier Arts and Crafts movement developed from a desire, as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace in the Victorian era, to link to a kinder,...Read more

Win tickets to see Bill Cosby
NorthJersey.com, March 10th

store that specializes in furniture, lighting, pottery, tiles, artwork, textiles and metal work in the style of the Arts and Crafts Movement...Read more

The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., Jim Kershner column
California Chronicle, March 8th

7--An intriguing new exhibit opens at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture on Saturday: "The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest...Read more

The hidden meanings in Victoriana and the Arts and Crafts
Christian Davies Antiques (blog), March 5th

The handcraftsmanship of these pieces also celebrated the return of the artisan, which was the raison d'être of the Arts and Crafts Movement...Read more

Arts and Crafts

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