The Arts and Crafts style, also known as Mission style in the United States, was born out of a protest to factory work in late 19th-century England. The Arts and Crafts style embraced artisanship and skill. Factory-produced furniture of that time was often ugly and of poor quality, and the Arts and Crafts movement aimed to provide an alternative. Does this Spark an idea?
Function
The intent of the Arts and Crafts movement was to provide consumers with beautiful furniture made by hand by fine craftsmen. The goal was to create furniture "for the people and by the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user," according to Art, Design and Visual Thinking. It was supposed to be a win/win situation with ordinary people being able to surround themselves with beautiful furniture while providing a decent and fulfilling living for the furniture maker.
Effects
The English Arts and Crafts furniture makers used ideas from Medieval European, Islamic and Japanese sources for inspiration. The furniture featured stylized decorative motifs, according to Art, Design and Visual Thinking. While the intent was for Arts and Crafts furniture to be for the ordinary citizen, it turned out that only the very wealthy could afford to buy this high-quality, handmade furniture. The market for this furniture was small, and so was the need for furniture makers. It appeared as if the movement would end here.
Significance
American ingenuity prevailed, however, with New York's Gustav Stickley, who was not going to see this idea die. He wanted to create furniture for the middle class consumer who cared about furniture and wanted something nice. Stickley's idea was to combine the factory with the artisan by using factories to produce the basic parts of furniture and having the craftsmen finish it.
Considerations
Stickley's Arts and Crafts furniture was not as ornate as his English predecessors' were. His designs used clean, simple, rectangular lines with a pureness of function. The term Mission became interchangeable with American Arts and Crafts. Mission refers to the American Southwest and Hispanic styles. Sometimes Native American and Spanish designs grace this furniture.
Benefits
Stickley's notion was that furniture should be "honest." The gaudiness and shoddy pieces readily available during the early 20th century in America inspired him to do better. While his wood was high quality, his design sensibility of combining beauty with function is what made his furniture sought-after then and still desired a century later.
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