Folk Crafts

Warren E. Roberts, in "Folk Crafts," has this to say about folk crafts:

The first consideration must be: what are folk crafts? Here the element of tradition is of primary importance, and one can say generally that folk crafts are traditional crafts. It is, indeed, in the crafts that one can observe with special clarity the operation of tradition. Until relatively recent times, craft techniques and designs were passed down within one family for many generations or wer transmitted by the apprentice system wherein a boy learning the craft served for as long as seven years under a master craftsman. Only fairly recently has the older, traditional system of transmitting the skills and knowledge of a craft been partially supplanted by formalized training in schools and by printed manuals and books (Roberts 233).

He goes on to say:

Certain general requirements will determine when a craft is a folk craft. The element of tradition is more important than the element of age (Roberts 234).

And distinguishes folk craft from folk art thusly:

Another, broader question involves the distinction, if any, between a craft, an art, and an occupation. Although there is much confusion... in general practice the so-called fine arts are distinguished form the crafts. Hence painting and sculpture when traditional are considered as folk art rather than folk craft. Moreover, occupations such as mining and logging are usually not deemed crafts, for the miner, for example, simply produces the metals with which the blacksmith and the tinsmith work while the craftsman produces the finished product (Roberts 234-5).

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