This volume focuses on the decorative arts of a period that has only recently begun to receive serious attention from museums and collectors. It starts with the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 and continues to America's entry into World War 1 in 1916. In his introduction, Robert Judson Clark defines the Arts and Crafts movement in this country and describes its stylistic periods; he also discusses the European precedents, parallels, and influences. A study of the movement in Chicago and the Midwest is contributed by David Hanks, Assistant Curator of American Decorative Arts, The Art Institute of Chicago. Professor Martin Eidelberg, Department of Art, Rutgers University, writes about American art pottery.

Illustrated with 200 stunning photographs and encompassing objects from furniture and ceramics to jewelry and metal, this definitive work from Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton showcases some of the greatest pieces of American crafts of the last two centuries. Potter Craft

A unique exploration of the question, can art be fashioned out of glass? Analysis of the philosophical and circumstantial factors that reveal the early history of the movement and the clash of ambitions and power that marked the relationship between the worlds of so-called crafts and high art. 81 colour & 47 b/w illustrations

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” This quote alone from William Morris could summarise the ideology of the Arts & Crafts movement, which triggered a veritable reform in the applied arts in England. Founded by John Ruskin, then put into practice by William Morris, the Arts & Crafts movement promoted revolutionary ideas in Victorian England. In the middle of the “soulless” Industrial Era, when objects were standardised, the Arts & Crafts movement proposed a return to the aesthetic at the core of production. The work of artisans and meticulous design thus became the heart of this new ideology, which influenced styles throughout the world, translating the essential ideas of Arts & Crafts into design, architecture and painting.