Broadly defined as an international design period that flourished between the late 19th century and approximately 1915, the Arts and Crafts Movement originated in England around 1880 in reaction to what was perceived as the loss of hand-crafted artistry in the face of the mechanized Industrial Revolution.
The movement gained foothold in the United States with the help of Gustav Stickley’s The Craftsman, a magazine that promoted a specific approach to architecture, interior design, and decorative arts. A wide range of other magazines, societies, and guilds also emerged to further the ideals of the movement. The 1904 World’s Fair in Saint Louis proved to be a pivotal promotion to the masses of the beauty and functionality of hand-crafted “applied arts.”
When considering the decorative arts of the period, simple forms, evidence of the artists’ touch, and styles that evoked Medieval, romantic, or folk influences were especially popular. Along with an invigorated focus on textiles, leather work, and pottery, hand-crafted metalwork became very desirable as household items – one could find ashtrays, bookends, chargers, serving cutlery, candlesticks, desk accessories, and jardinières inside well-appointed, Craftsman-style homes. The majority was made from copper, but silver, brass, and pewter were also used.
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The 1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition (also known as the Saint Louis World’s Fair) was an important event that helped introduce the contemporary Arts and Crafts movement to Americans and helped artisans and hand-crafted goods gain widespread popularity in American households.
This quote, taken from the Official Catalogue of Exhibits / Department of Art, provided for attendees a wonderful overview of the importance of the Arts & Crafts movement, as well as the beauty of “applied arts”
“The Art Department has here adopted a broader classification than has prevailed at previous expositions. For the first time at an international exposition in the country Applied Art has been placed on a plane with what is known as the “Fine Arts.” During the 1890s the Arts and Crafts movement, developing strongly in England, in certain sections of the continent, and in the United States, has made for itself a distinct and permanent place in the world of art. The Arts & Crafts movement is a protest against the monotony of machine-made things, it is a recognition of the dignity of hand work, of the individuality of the worker and of the value of artistic feeling and knowledge, in whatever medium expressed.
The art craftsman works in the spirit of the old guild and the master-workman, with the added touch of keen modern thought. Never before in our country have the applied arts, which is art closely related to every-day life, made such a showing as is here made. Exhibits in glass, earthenware, metal, leather, wood and textiles, as well as examples of artistic bookbinding [are on display]. The characteristics of American applied art, as shown here, are originality of design, good workmanship, and a daring use of new materials, as in the use of semi-precious stones in jewelry.”
The Palace of Varied Industries and the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy also held examples of applied arts, but the organizers of the World’s Fair at St. Louis placed a precedent-setting emphasis on the equality of the traditional high arts with the applied arts and placed most objects within the Palace of Fine Arts. As such, the Expo was an important milestone in the American Arts and Crafts movement.
The visionary behind the display of applied arts was Halsey Cooley Ives, the director of the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. In turn, Ives chose Frederick A. Whiting, secretary of the SACB (Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston) to find, select, and curate the applied arts exhibit. However, there were more entries than the Palace of Fine Arts could hold; thus, Ives insisted that all entries go through a strict selection process.
“Organizers hoped that ‘a worthy and carefully selected collection of applied arts would impress consumers and bestow a new dignity upon craftspeople, who would finally receive proper recognition for their work.’ ” (pg. 227 The Craftsman and the Critic).
A jury was carefully assembled among artists and crafters across the country, although the East Coast was better represented; the sole juror for the West (defined at that time as Colorado, California, Utah, and Iowa) was painter and metalworker Charles Percy Davis. Jurors met in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis to review applications and choose the best of the bunch.
When the jurors ran into difficulty setting standardized criteria for entries, however, Whiting acted more and more as a one-man jury. However, he did tap Ernest Batchelder, who later gained recognition for his art tile creations, to lead the selection process for works in California and the Southwest. Batchelder helped select works submitted by Isabel Austin, a Santa Barbara leather-worker; May Mott-Smith, a painter, sculptor, and jewelry maker from San Francisco; Douglass Van Denbergh, a metalsmith from Los Gatos and the founder of the San Francisco Guild of Arts and Crafts; and Charles F. Eaton and Elizabeth Eaton Burton. Writing of the impact of this group, Whiting noted, “From California comes work which shows great promise and the possibility of new uses of materials.” (pg. 236, The Craftsman and the Critic).
By the time the Expo closed on December 1, 1904, an estimated 20 million people had visited during its eight-month span.
(The Craftsman and the Critic: Defining Usefulness and Beauty in Arts and Crafts-era Boston. Beverly K. Brandt. )