Crafts are concerned with function as well as beauty. Before the industrial Revolution crafts people made the furniture for the home and tools for the work place. Today these items are mass – produced in factories, So hand crafted objects are valued for their individuality and because the tradition of craft was started in the ancient period, and craft of cutting and shaping stone for building is centuries old. Almost any material can be used in craft, from wood, stone and metal, to beads, reeds and shells. A crafts person may sell his craft work to earn his daily living, but craft is also a popular leisure activity, people take up a craft as a hobby. Medieval crafts people made their living from being skilled in one particular craft, such as coopering, dying cloth, leather work, or being a goldsmith. Each craft has its own guild which has a fixed price and standards of work and support members who fall on hard times. Basket making worldwide have been woven in materials such as leaves, twigs, grass and bark to make unbreakable containers, to build boats and houses, and to make shoes and hats. Machines cannot yet match the fine techniques displayed in a hand – woven basket. The wonderful world activity is crafts. |