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Summary and Objective
Today many craftspeople live and work in the Pioneer Valley. They follow in the footsteps of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which came to the United States from Great Britain more than 100 years ago. From the 1890's until the early 20th Century, Americans returned to making handmade objects. Using primary source material from the American Centuries digital collection, students will understand that the Arts and Crafts movement in Deerfield, Massachusetts was a response to industrialization and the mass production of manufactured goods and that this movement included basketmaking, rugmaking, needlecraft, pottery, metalsmithing, and photography.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Have students compare and contrast two objects of the same genre, one handmade and the other factory produced. For example, you could bring to class two pottery bowls, one that is mass produced and bought in a discount store, and one that is handmade from a local craftsperson. Let students hold each object. Make a venn diagram of their discussion. Then ask your students to come up with a definition for mass production and handmade crafts.
Step 2.
Ask students to click on the activity icon "Pottery Vase" and read all the descriptions. They should click on any underlined words and read the definitions. Students should find the answers to the following questions while reading:
What was the Arts and Crafts Movement? Where and when did it originate?
Who was part of this movement and why?
What was the Deerfield Industries?
Who made this vase? Where did he live? What position did he hold in the Deerfield Industries?
Ask students to take a "closer look" at the vase and the glaze decoration.
To see more examples of local Deerfield pottery during this Arts and Crafts era click on the icon "Covered Container" and "Vase" in the collection of activity items. Read all about both these items. Are these items functional? What are the stylistic influences of these items?
Step 3.
To learn more about the The Society of Deerfield Industries, formerly called the Society For Arts and Crafts, click on the activity icon: "The Society of Deerfield Industries" and scroll through the pages of this primary source document. (You could assign each student a different page to read, so that everyone does not have to read the whole pamphlet. This way the class gathers information and pieces it together like a puzzle.) Answer the following questions:
What year was this pamphlet written?
What ideals were this society trying to promote as set forth in the pamphlet?
What crafts and arts were included in the Deerfield Industries exhibitions?
Who helped to organize and develop this society?
How successful was their first exhibition?
Write a description of the picture on the cover of the pamphlet which represents the Deerfield Industries.
Step 4.
Click on the activity icon "Pocumtuck Basket Makers". Read all about this photograph and then follow the "See Also..." links to view the pictures and read about the types and styles of baskets that were being made in Deerfield at the turn of the 20th century.
Who made these baskets?
What were they made out of?
What styles influenced the weavers?
Step 5.
Click on the activity icon "Blacksmith's Shop". Read all about George Shaw. Look closely at the photograph and find what George Shaw seems to be making. What new invention will eventuallly make these items less and less needed in large quantities? Then go to the "See Also" column and click on "Kelley's blacksmith sign". Read about the sign. What is wrought iron? Why did Cornelius Kelley begin crafting wrought iron ornamental objects?
Find out who Cornelius Kelley was by clicking on his underlined name. Where did he immigrate from? When? View the other objects he crafted in the digital collection by clicking on them in the "See Also" column- candleholders, candle stands, and the fern stand- and read about them.
Step 6.
Click on the activity icon "belt buckle". Who made this buckle? What movement was she associated with? What gemstone did she use? You can also see the back of the buckle by clicking on the icon. Find out more about the maker of this belt buckle and some of her other handcrafted metalwork by clicking on her icon in "See Also". Follow the links to the other items and read their descriptions.
Step 7.
Click on the activity icon Screen Panel - "The Peacock". Read about this embroidered panel and then in the "See Also.." column click on the "Society for Blue and White Needlework". Read the two page pamphlet about this organization from Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Who were the members of the Society for Blue and White Needlework?
What did they make?
What designs inspired their needlework?
How did they exhibit their work?
What other group was the Society of Blue and White Needlework associated with to promote and market their work?
Look at the cover again. Find their logo on the front cover. What does it look like? What is the significance of the logo?
In the "See Also..." column, click on both the "Rose Tree" and "Wallhanging-Two Red Roses Across the Moon". Look and read about each item. Did anything influence the style of these two pieces? Using the close up button, find the Societies signature logo in each embroidery. Where is it?
Step 8.
A FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY:
Have your students try one of the art forms included in the Arts and Crafts Movement of the Progressive Era. They could make a clay pot, embroider a piece of cloth, hook a rug, or raffia wrap a wire basket. Even if you do not have the materials to make an Arts and Crafts object, students could design an object on paper. This will help to reinforce what it is that makes an object Arts and Crafts as compared to Baroque, Rococo or Bauhaus - the hand work, the naturalistic designs and colors, the materials, and the simple elegance.
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