Arts And Crafts Movement Furniture Characteristics

The arts and crafts movement sought to revive the tradition of individual craftsmanship in design and building partly as a way to remedy the loss.

Arts and crafts movement furniture characteristics.

Several arts crafts guilds organizations and schools helped fuel the movement. Initiated in reaction against the perceived impoverishment of the decorative arts and the conditions in which they were produced the movement flourished in. The arts and craft movement started in britain and then sweep over europe and the united states. During the time of the arts and crafts movement there was a lot of change and different artistic movements taking place.

The arts and crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the british isles and subsequently spread across the british empire and to the rest of europe and america. The furniture distinguished by its simplicity of materials and design arose out of the arts and crafts inspired movement led in the united states by gustav stickley makers of this type of furniture shared a belief in the social virtues of good design and handcraftmanship. For this reason it can be confusing as to what are the characteristics of the arts and crafts movement. Mortise and tenon joints are often pinned with dowels so they won t shift as the wood shrinks and swells.

Furniture styles of the arts and crafts movement. The arts and crafts movement was all about embracing imperfections and the mark of the hand aka the opposite of making things entirely with machines. While the movement was more of a philosophy rather than a specific aesthetic design style there were some common threads such as inspiration from nature and a focus on simplicity. It was a revolution in the decorative and fine arts that focused on clean simple lines in furniture and other home decor items.

The core characteristics of the arts and crafts movement are a belief in craftsmanship which stresses the inherent beauty of the material the importance of nature as inspiration and the value of simplicity utility and beauty. Well constructed arts and crafts furniture is made using mortise and tenon joinery where a projecting tenon fits perfectly into a mortise opening say where a leg meets a crossbar with as little nailing and gluing as possible. It also put an emphasis on handmade pottery furniture and other decor items. Created in response to the rapid industrialization of great britain in the mid 19th century the arts and crafts movement prioritized craftsmanship over mass production promoting the decorative and fine arts.

The movement often promoted reform. In general furniture done in the arts and crafts style is very rectilinear meaning it has many straight lines often with an emphasis on. The arts and crafts movement lasted from about 1880 through 1920.