People today can go to a big box store and get almost any item needed for daily life. If they can't find it there, they can visit a specialty store or go online. In the old days, people often had to make what they needed or do without. This is the reality that vintage crafts evoke for us today. Artisans practice the handicrafts, and collectors hope to preserve handmade objects; both seek to prevent the loss of these old skills and creations.
Crafts are things done by hand or objects made by hand. The majority of traditional skills were born of necessity. However, the innate artistry that exists in all peoples led crafters to embellish almost everything they made. For this reason, antique handmade items are both beautiful and collectible.
A good example is knitting. Fishermen in northern climes needed to keep warm even when drenched to the skin by rain or sea spray. Their women made them thick, closely-knitted sweaters out of wool from their native sheep. The natural lanolin was often left in the wool for its waterproofing qualities. The women were not content to knit plain patterns but developed intricate cables and ribbing that have beautified knitted garments ever since.
People needed tables and chairs for their houses, linens for their beds, clothes and shoes to wear, and tools for both indoors and out. The only way for many to get items of this nature was to make them. However, that alone does not explain the turned legs and spindles of chairs, the pretty borders on sheets and pillowcases, the trim and flounces on the dresses, or the perfect symmetry and graceful curves of many an old farm implement.
Think of all the utilitarian things that people made into objects of beauty: baskets, pottery, lifelike duck decoys, eating utensils, drinking glasses, hooked or woven rugs, and stained-glass windows, to name just a few. Other household items that did not have to be improved but were include soap, candles, pot pourri and sachets, chair cushions and sofa pillows, and tablecloths.
The exciting thing is that much of this heritage has been preserved by careful owners or in museums. It's easy to find objects to admire that may be hundreds of years old. Even textiles - needlepoint samplers, embroidered dresses, smocked christening gowns, evening shawls, and beaded bags - have survived for generations.
People practice, teach, and learn the techniques. Community colleges offer classes in quilting, yarn work, pottery, and jewelry making. Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg, arts and crafts shows, and frontier museums can see silver casting, candle making, book binding, yarn spinning, and glass blowing demonstrations. People see the Amish farming in the old ways as they drive their modern cars down super highways.
Vintage handicrafts are part of every nation's heritage and should not be lost. Not only are the old skills valuable, but each object lovingly made long ago evokes the period from which it came, with its unique hardships and attendant joys. Whether using wood, stone, metal, clay, scraps (some early knives were made from worn-out files), animal skins, or reeds from the river bank, people learned to make things of beauty and value.
Crafts are things done by hand or objects made by hand. The majority of traditional skills were born of necessity. However, the innate artistry that exists in all peoples led crafters to embellish almost everything they made. For this reason, antique handmade items are both beautiful and collectible.
A good example is knitting. Fishermen in northern climes needed to keep warm even when drenched to the skin by rain or sea spray. Their women made them thick, closely-knitted sweaters out of wool from their native sheep. The natural lanolin was often left in the wool for its waterproofing qualities. The women were not content to knit plain patterns but developed intricate cables and ribbing that have beautified knitted garments ever since.
People needed tables and chairs for their houses, linens for their beds, clothes and shoes to wear, and tools for both indoors and out. The only way for many to get items of this nature was to make them. However, that alone does not explain the turned legs and spindles of chairs, the pretty borders on sheets and pillowcases, the trim and flounces on the dresses, or the perfect symmetry and graceful curves of many an old farm implement.
Think of all the utilitarian things that people made into objects of beauty: baskets, pottery, lifelike duck decoys, eating utensils, drinking glasses, hooked or woven rugs, and stained-glass windows, to name just a few. Other household items that did not have to be improved but were include soap, candles, pot pourri and sachets, chair cushions and sofa pillows, and tablecloths.
The exciting thing is that much of this heritage has been preserved by careful owners or in museums. It's easy to find objects to admire that may be hundreds of years old. Even textiles - needlepoint samplers, embroidered dresses, smocked christening gowns, evening shawls, and beaded bags - have survived for generations.
People practice, teach, and learn the techniques. Community colleges offer classes in quilting, yarn work, pottery, and jewelry making. Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg, arts and crafts shows, and frontier museums can see silver casting, candle making, book binding, yarn spinning, and glass blowing demonstrations. People see the Amish farming in the old ways as they drive their modern cars down super highways.
Vintage handicrafts are part of every nation's heritage and should not be lost. Not only are the old skills valuable, but each object lovingly made long ago evokes the period from which it came, with its unique hardships and attendant joys. Whether using wood, stone, metal, clay, scraps (some early knives were made from worn-out files), animal skins, or reeds from the river bank, people learned to make things of beauty and value.
About the Author:
You can visit stores.craftbarnct.com for more helpful information about The Appeal Of Vintage Crafts.
No comments:
Post a Comment