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37-399: During long cold winter nights, Swiss farmers and their families concentrated on handicrafts that could be sold for extra income. The Swiss embroidery tradition, which has roots in flax and linen production dating back hundreds of years, led to the development of distinctive Swiss lace, an intricate, interlaced pattern of threads, looped, twisted or braided to other threads, known throughout

74-405: A blue-collar work ethic, are accessible to the general public, and are constructed from materials with histories that exceed the boundaries of Western "fine art" tradition, such as ceramics , glass , textiles , metal and wood . These products are produced within a specific community of practice , and while they mostly differ from the products produced within the communities of art and design,

111-471: A Bodenmann family member was not at the helm. The company continues to offer a full line of multi-color patches for a variety of uses and organizations. Handicraft A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles , moldable and rigid materials, paper, plant fibers, clay, etc. One of

148-566: A few words of common tourist languages. There are also specialty markets such as: According to the Vietnam Handicrafts Export Association (VIETCRAFT), Vietnam's handicrafts export turnover in 2023 reached US$ 2.2 billion, up 10.5% over 2022. The United States is Vietnam's largest export market, accounting for 35% of total export turnover. Vietnam's handicrafts industry currently has about 600 villages, with over 10 million direct workers. Wickerwork

185-564: A handcrafted item is the paramount criterion; those made by mass production or machines are not handicraft goods. Seen as developing the skills and creative interests of students, generally and sometimes towards a particular craft or trade, handicrafts are often integrated into educational systems, both informally and formally. Most crafts require the development of skill and the application of patience but can be learned by virtually anyone. Like folk art , handicraft output often has cultural and/or religious significance, and increasingly may have

222-538: A political message as well, as in craftivism . Many crafts become very popular for brief periods of time (a few months, or a few years), spreading rapidly among the crafting population as everyone emulates the first examples, then their popularity wanes until a later resurgence. The Arts and Crafts movement originated as a late-19th-century design reform and social movement principally in Europe, North America and Australia, and continues today. Its proponents are motivated by

259-661: A short period of time. Handicraft production is a small–scale production of products using manual labor. It was especially common in the Middle Ages , during the era of the Industrial Revolution it was mainly supplanted by mass production , however, it still exists for the production of goods such as luxury goods . The "handmade effect" is a phenomenon where consumers exhibit a preference for products that are crafted by human labor rather than produced through automated or robotic processes . This preference

296-560: Is a traditional handicraft industry, based on the use of two basic materials, bamboo and rattan . Vietnam currently has 893 villages specializing in wickerwork, accounting for 24% of the total number of villages, including 647 bamboo and rattan villages and 246 straw and water hyacinth villages. Dhokra Dhokra (also spelt Dokra ) is non–ferrous metal casting using the lost-wax casting technique. This sort of metal casting has been used in India for over 4,000 years and

333-406: Is driven, in large part, by the perception that handmade products symbolically "contain love ." The handmade effect is influenced by two key factors. Firstly, consumers express stronger intentions to purchase handmade products when buying gifts for loved ones, compared to more distant recipients. Secondly, they are willing to pay a higher price for handmade gifts when the purchase is motivated by

370-599: Is explained not only by economic and natural–geographical factors, but also by the support and encouragement of the handicraft industry from the state. There are almost as many variations on the theme of handicrafts as there are crafters with time on their hands, but they can be broken down into a number of categories: Handicrafts are often made for home use and decor. If sold, they are sold in direct sales , gift shops , public markets , and online shopping . In developing countries, handicrafts are sold to locals and as souvenirs to tourists. Sellers tend to speak at least

407-536: Is in fact as practical as it is aesthetic. Handicraft has its roots in the rural crafts —the material-goods necessities—of ancient civilizations, and many specific crafts have been practiced for centuries, while others are modern inventions or popularizations of crafts which were originally practiced in a limited geographic area. Many handcrafters use natural, even entirely indigenous, materials while others may prefer modern, non-traditional materials, and even upcycle industrial materials. The individual artisanship of

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444-506: Is particularly pronounced for products with higher symbolic value, where expressing one's beliefs and personality holds greater significance. Consumers , especially in contexts emphasizing symbolic consumption, have a stronger motivation for uniqueness and associate human labor more closely with product uniqueness. In product categories where mechanical production is common, consumers are more attracted to products labeled as handmade. The positive handmade effect on product attractiveness

481-686: Is still used. One of the earliest known lost wax artefacts is the dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro . The product of dhokra artisans are in great demand in domestic and foreign markets because of primitive simplicity, enchanting folk motifs and forceful form. Dhokra horses, elephants, peacocks, owls, religious images, measuring bowls, and lamp caskets etc., are highly appreciated. The lost wax technique for casting of copper based alloys has also been found in China , Egypt , Malaysia , Nigeria , Central America , and other places. There are two main processes of lost wax casting: solid casting and hollow casting. While

518-488: The guild system. Adolescents were apprenticed to a master craftsman and refined their skills over a period of years in exchange for low wages. By the time their training was complete, they were well equipped to set up in trade for themselves, earning their living with the skill that could be traded directly within the community, often for goods and services. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing mechanization of production processes gradually reduced or eliminated many of

555-408: The market . Mostly these were household products: dishes, furniture, jewelry, souvenirs, clothes, shoes. However, over time, other goods, such as weapons , began to go on sale. In pre–revolutionary Russia , handicraft production was quite widespread: about 30% of all manufactured products were produced by handicraft methods. Products were sold at fairs , and barter exchange was widespread. With

592-652: The beginning of industrialisation and collectivization of the Soviet Union, the handicraft mode of production was declared "the highest degree of oppression of the working people" and ceased to exist in almost all spheres of the Soviet economy except on an informal basis. Some state economies, such as that of Vietnam , are largely based on handicraft production. For example, in the 1950s in North Vietnam , there were more than 100,000 handicraft enterprises. In

629-477: The boundaries often overlap, resulting in hybrid objects. Additionally, as the interpretation and validation of art is frequently a matter of context, an audience may perceive handcrafted objects as art objects when these objects are viewed within an art context, such as in a museum or in a position of prominence in one's home. Simple "arts and crafts" projects are a common elementary and middle school activity in both mainstream and alternative education systems around

666-491: The capability to reproduce any number of identical pieces. In 1913, New Yorker John Avery, an advertising counselor and associate sales manager at Arnold B. Heine Co., a New York-based lace and embroidery company, acquired a one-third interest in the Chicago Embroidery Company. The company prospered, but Swiss-style lace fell out of fashion in the 1930s. During this period, The Chicago Embroidery company

703-436: The clay core is covered by a layer of wax composed of pure beeswax , resin from the tree Damara orientalis (more properly Agathis dammara ), and nut oil . The wax is then shaped and carved in all its finer details of design and decorations. It is then covered with layers of clay, which takes the negative form of the wax on the inside, thus becoming a mould for the metal that will be poured inside it. Drain ducts are left for

740-402: The desire to convey love rather than simply acquiring the best-performing product. The handicraft method of production has been used by people since ancient times. Initially, people engaged in handicraft production aimed to satisfy the needs of their own economy, however, with the development of commodity–money relations , an increasing number of goods produced by them began to be supplied to

777-528: The early 1970s, even before the end of the war , handicraft production provided about half of all the products of the local industry and almost a third of the total industrial production of the republic. By 1977, after the reunification of Vietnam, there were 700,000 handicraftsmen in South Vietnam . Handicraft production in Nepal withstands competition with industrial production and foreign goods, which

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814-464: The early 1980s. Demand for patches began to decline. By the turn of the millennium, direct embroidery had taken a huge portion of market share away from patches, and low-cost competition from the Far East pressured U.S. patch manufacturers. More production shifted to China. In 2007, after three generations of family owners, the company was sold to a former employee. For the first time in its history,

851-477: The former is predominant in the south of India the latter is more common in Central and Eastern India . Solid casting does not use a clay core but instead a solid piece of wax to create the mould; hollow casting is the more traditional method and uses the clay core. The first task in the lost wax hollow casting process consists of developing a clay core which is roughly the shape of the final cast image. Next,

888-507: The ideals of movement founders such as William Morris and John Ruskin , who proposed that in pre-industrial societies, such as the European Middle Ages , people had achieved fulfillment through the creative process of handicrafts. This was held up in contrast to what was perceived to be the alienating effects of industrial labor. These activities were called crafts because originally many of them were professions under

925-509: The looms were converted from lacemaking to war patch production. After the war, a Chicago cap manufacturer approached the company with an order for patches to be sewn on to caps and sold to members of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). This was the beginning of many decades of a business relationship between Chicago Embroidery and the BSA and other Scouting organizations. In the years following

962-643: The main traditional metalsmiths of Odisha and West Bengal . Their technique of lost wax casting is named after their tribe, hence Dhokra metal casting. The tribe extends from Jharkhand to West Bengal and Odisha ; members are distant cousins of the Chhattisgarh Dhokras. A few hundred years ago, the Dhokras of Central and Eastern India traveled south as far as Tamilnadu and north as far as Rajasthan and hence are now found all over India . Dhokra, or Dokra from Dwariapur and Bikna , West Bengal,

999-583: The materials that surround us for economical, cultural and environmental purposes. Secondary schools and college and university art departments increasingly provide elective options for more handicraft-based arts, in addition to formal " fine arts ", a distinction that continues to fade throughout the years, especially with the rise of studio craft , i.e. the use of traditional handicrafts techniques by professional fine artists. Many community centers and schools run evening or day classes and workshops, for adults and children, offering to teach basic craft skills in

1036-552: The needs of the people in their locality without using machines. Collective terms for handicrafts include artisanry , crafting , and handcrafting . The term arts and crafts is also applied, especially in the United States and mostly to hobbyists' and children's output rather than items crafted for daily use, but this distinction is not formal, and the term is easily confused with the Arts and Crafts design movement, which

1073-612: The oldest handicraft is Dhokra ; this is a sort of metal casting that has been used in India for over 5,000 years and is still used. In Iranian Baluchistan , women still make red ware hand-made pottery with dotted ornaments, much similar to the 4,000-year-old pottery tradition of Kalpurgan, an archaeological site near the village. Usually, the term is applied to traditional techniques of creating items (whether for personal use or as products) that are both practical and aesthetic. Handicraft industries are those that produce things with hands to meet

1110-482: The roles professional craftspeople played, and today many handicrafts are increasingly seen, especially when no longer the mainstay of a formal vocational trade , as a form of hobby , folk art and sometimes fine art . The term handicrafts can also refer to the products themselves of such artisanal efforts, that require specialized knowledge, maybe highly technical in their execution, require specialized equipment and/or facilities to produce, involve manual labor or

1147-479: The war, the company continued making military SSI patches and many different designs for large and small companies, police and fire departments, municipalities, youth groups, sporting organizations and others. During the 1970s, decorative patches became a fashionable clothing accessory for the general public. Chicago Embroidery opened a second factory, and with three shifts working six days a week on more than 20 looms, millions of patches were produced for shipment around

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1184-422: The wax, which melts away when the clay is cooked. The wax is then replaced by the molten metal, often using brass scrap as basic raw material. The liquid metal poured in hardens between the core and the inner surface of the mould. The metal fills the mould and takes the same shape as the wax. The outer layer of clay is then chipped off and the metal icon is polished and finished as desired. Dhokra Damar tribes are

1221-410: The world for its quality and workmanship. Handmade lace and so called hand machine embroidery was often used in decorative clothing, curtains, table linens and many other applications. Lace making and embroidery changed during the Industrial Revolution with the development of automated lace machines , and the schiffli embroidery machine which greatly increased production efficiency and provided

1258-438: The world. But with the introduction of new direct embroidery technology in the 1980s, the embroidered patch industry underwent a major upheaval. Computerized digital sewing machines allowed intricate designs to be sewn directly onto shirts, jackets, caps, or other items. While customers continued to buy patches, demand dramatically decreased. Boy Scout membership peaked in 1973 and the number of U.S. military personnel peaked in

1295-745: The world. In some of the Scandinavian or Nordic countries, more advanced handicrafts form part of the formal, compulsory school curriculum, and are collectively referred to as slöjd in Swedish, and käsityö in Finnish. Students learn how to work mainly with metal, textile and wood, not for professional training purposes as in American vocational–technical schools , but with the aim to develop children's and teens' practical skills, such as everyday problem-solving ability, tool use, and understanding of

1332-399: Was asked to stitch designs on men's socks, however no one knew how to do this because the sock had to be stitched after it was made and the power looms could not make a design without stitching the sock closed. The company met this challenge by creating a special holder for the socks that allowed the power looms to stitch a design without ruining the sock and in 1938, Otto DeCardy filed for and

1369-404: Was granted U.S. patent 2,141,294 for a specialized hose embroidery machine . With the start of World War II, the U.S. military suddenly needed for millions of embroidered patches to signify rank, unit, and specialty of members of the armed forces. The U.S. Government ordered the major embroidery companies to begin making embroidered patches (also known as shoulder sleeve insignia or SSI) and

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