The Arts & Crafts period developed late in the nineteenth century and continued until the 1930s. With the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, assembly-line production enabled the mass production of merchandise. This was troubling to artisans and anyone who valued individually hand-crafted items and merchandise of top quality. This is the group that advocated well-made items of a quality that mass production could not achieve. The movement began with furniture and expanded to ceramics, wallpaper, metal work, architecture, and stained glass. The emphasis was on quality workmanship and consisted primarily of black, brown, yellow, and green tones in all fields. Of the many Arts & Crafts artisans of the period the most well-known are Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustav Stickley, and William Morris. Reproductions of their work are widely available today.

William Morris

One of the earliest champions of the Arts & Crafts movement was William Morris of Britain (1834-1896), who formed Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. with a group of likeminded artisans. The company, later renamed Morris & Co., worked in many areas including stained glass, ceramics, fabric, wallpaper, and architecture. The company designed his home, Red House, which is one of the earliest examples of architecture ascribed to the movement.

It’s no surprise that anything made by Morris is highly sought after today, as he is considered a founding father of the Arts & Crafts movement. Most of his best work can only be found in museums. His work can generally be authenticated by the “Morris & Co.” stamp.

Gustav Stickley

Gustav Stickley (1857-1942) and his family began the Arts & Crafts movement in the United States in upstate New York during the 1870s. An architect and designer, he started a furniture company and introduced the Craftsman line, which continues to be produced today. A Gustav Stickley sideboard was sold at a Christie’s auction in 1997 for $596,000 by a preeminent collector of Arts & Crafts, Barbra Streisand.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Best known for his work as an architect, American Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was a pioneer of the Arts & Crafts movement. His specialty was designing not just a home, but all of the furniture as well. Today his work commands top dollar when available, but it is rarely available. Two of his most famous architectural designs and the Guggenheim Museum in New York and Fallingwater, a residential home.

Furniture

Solidly constructed simple oak and ash furniture typifies the furniture of the Arts & Crafts period. Common design elements include rush seating, horizontal or vertical slat backs and sides, and spindle backs and sides. Upholstery colors typify the period, generally done in brown, green, or black leather. Much of this furniture is still in use today because of its rigid construction.

Ceramics

Mass production was abhorred by the potters of the Victorian era. The graceful Japanese Aesthetic Movement style influenced craftsmen to emulate it, and creative forms and new glazes gave potters a new area to pursue. The fundamental perception of ceramics in North America changed as a result of the Arts & Crafts movement. Long seen as utilitarian, pottery became more decorative to appeal to the new upper class that could afford to splurge on a superfluous object. Dragons and flowers were often depicted in yellow, green, and brown glaze on pottery of the era.

Metalwork

Artisans who worked with copper, brass, silver, and pewter soon joined the move to hand-crafted workmanship. Tiffany and Liberty are two companies of the era that produced pieces combining both machine and hand production methods. Green and brown enamels and hammered surfaces are common characteristics of this work.

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