The Arts & Crafts movement did not have as much of an effect on Continental Europe as it did in the states at the time. Europe was wrapped up in the throws of Art Nouveau, Jugendstil in Germany & the Vienna Secession in Austria. These designers were happy to use the new machines to their advantage & made designs based on the new possibilities, not the limits of handwork. Even many of the pieces with “hand hammered” work were simply done once & then turned into a mold for mass production. There are of course many fine pieces of handwork from Europe, the Wiener Werkstatte started by Josef Hoffman & Koloman Moser did do some stunning work based on the Guild concepts, but this was done primarily for the wealthy partrons who could afford these fine luxuries. In general though, much of the “Arts & Crafts” you will find from Europe was made by machine, put together by hand & sold to the masses. Ther were wonderful forms & design all over Europe which proved to be great inspiration in America via the art journals of the period, especially the STUDIO (England), ART ET DECORATION (France), DAS INTERIEUR (Vienna) & DEUTSCHE KUNST UND DEKORATION (Germany).
