Page 35 - Constructing Craft

suggested that craftspeople were tolerant and adaptable enough to co-exist within

its framework. Certainly the strands discussed in this chapter provided a sound
base for the launching of a craft movement but the shared heritage was not strong

enough to keep it unified. The shift from men and women making objects for use in
the home or for their own pleasure to craft artists making objects for exhibitions and

dealer galleries ‒ influenced by Modernism with indigenous attachments ‒ placed
considerable strain on the movement. In the following chapters we consider the

issues that lay at the heart of the disputes between craftspeople who ‘stayed true’ to

the traditions outlined in this chapter and those who felt constrained by them. But
first we look at some of the crafts and craftspeople that helped form the foundations

of the later movement.

Constructing Craft