Arts and Crafts Furniture Materials and Craftsmanship

Arts and Craft was a movement that grew in reaction to industrialization of manufacturing over craft and quality of the product and the machine over the worker. They promote skilled handwork as the ideal and the majority of designs put on display the hand of the crafts person. Joinery and handwork became the centerpiece and signature of the design and style. This was expressed from exposed joinery typically associated with American A&C to the European A&C that usually high the workmanship though still used mortise and tenon construction. To give some detail ideas for our tables I have included some examples here that show the range of expression of the prominent furniture designers that came out of this movement.

The founders believed in style that supported the local community and their traditions. That meant most designers worked with local woods and custom made hardware. In Europe and the US that often meant oak or ash as the preferred choice.

Image information:
The illustration at the top is a Corbel (or bracket used as decoration often by Stickley and Mission style designer) acting as a tusk for a through tenon.
The black cabinet could work as a table style without its top. This an example of the Glasgow Style designed by Mackintosh.
The big table is an example of the work done by Liberty and Company in London.
The side table is designed by Limbert Company which used machinery and mass production more heavily than the ideal but the owner Charles Limbert was well known for his designs. I thought this table might work as a knock down design like someone wanted to make in class.
The first image is done in the Mackintosh style Greene and Greene images: 2008from Popular Wood Working Online Extra October 2008 - They also have free access to Google’s Sketchup CAD online program and numerous designs
The main resource here and the rest of the images came from "Arts and Crafts Furniture, from Classic to Contemporary" by Rodel and Binzen