[Skip to content] [Skip to main navigation] [Skip to quick links] [Go to accessibility information]

Art UK
Menu
SIGN IN
Search
Shop
  • About
  • Discover
  • Learn
  • Stories
  • Donate Donate

Main menu

Close
  • Home
  • Search form

    • Discover

      • Artworks
      • Artists
      • Topics
      • People
      • Art terms
      • Stories
      • Curations
    • Learn

      • Learning resources
      • The Superpower of Looking
      • Visual literacy
      • Write on Art
    • Participate

      • Tagger
      • Curate
      • Art Detective
    • Visit

      • Venues
    • Support us

      • Become a Patron
      • Our funders
    • About

      • What we do
      • Our impact
      • Who we are
      • Who funds us
    • For collections

      • Partner collections
      • Digital skills for collections
    • Shop

      • Prints
      • Art themes
      • Books
      • Gifts
      • About the shop
  • Sign in
  • Register

Remember me (uncheck on a public computer)

By signing up you agree to terms and conditions and privacy policy

Forgotten password?

Enter your email address below and we’ll send you a link to reset your password


Cancel

I agree to the Art UK terms and conditions and privacy policy

Sign up to the Art UK newsletter, a weekly edit of insightful art stories


Finding Art UK useful? Support us to keep it free.

Donate Finding Art UK useful? Support us to keep it free.

Topics

Craft (art)

  • Summary
A Knitting Party
Image credit: IWM (Imperial War Museums)

A Knitting Party

Evelyn Mary Dunbar (1906–1960)

IWM (Imperial War Museums)

Before industrialisation in the eighteenth century every man-made object was the result of craft, so the activities of craftsmen and women appear in the background of many scenes of everyday life. Medieval trade guilds evolved into formal societies that commissioned portraits of their members.


In previous centuries the creative potential of married women was largely confined to the home, but many excelled in domestic crafts such as embroidery and quilt-making, and their portraits often show them at work.

Read more
The late nineteenth-century Arts and Crafts Movement resulted in a renewed celebration of the crafts, with which artists felt a natural affinity. This strong theme continued into the work of some twentieth-century artists around and after the Second World War.

Artworks

  • A Knitting Party
    A Knitting Party Evelyn Mary Dunbar (1906–1960)
    Imperial War Museum London
  • Pecking Bird
    Pecking Bird Barbara Jones (1912–1978)
    Exhall Grange Specialist School & Science College
  • Garden Folly (Goose)
    Garden Folly (Goose) Tom Ormond (b.1974)
    County Hall, Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection
  • Untitled
    Untitled Anne Murray (b.1949)
    Art & Heritage Collections, Robert Gordon University
  • Woman Knitting
    Woman Knitting Gerrit Alexander Godart Filip Mollinger (1836–1867)
    Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums
  • Morris Young
    Morris Young Christopher Meadows (1863–1947)
    Paisley Museum and Art Galleries
  • Heron with Mallard and Birds
    Heron with Mallard and Birds unknown artist
    Strangers' Hall
  • 156 more

Stories

  • The overlooked history of nineteenth-century quilt-making

    Kate Hebert

  • The Great Tapestry of Scotland: a new Galashiels gallery space focussed on wellbeing

    Kirsty Innes

  • 1961, fabric by Bernat Klein (1922–2014)
    Bernat Klein: painterly textiles and revolutionary tweeds

    Lucy Ellis

  • Lucie Rie and Hans Coper
    Lucie Rie: changing the landscape of British ceramics

    Lydia Figes

  • Stories from the east: how William Morris was influenced by Islamic manuscripts

    Qaisra M. Khan

  • Natural instinct: the graphic and sculptural skill of Gertrude Hermes

    Jane Hill

  • The festival of Purim

    Emily Allen and Jasmine Allen

Learning resources

  • lw-ngp-wc-pcf5-thumb-edited-1-1.jpg
    Round-up
    Winter festivals and celebrations resources
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • css-sculpture-with-mould-thumbnail-1.jpg
    Activity
    Cast a simple sculpture
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • dmt-intro-image-2-1.png
    Activity
    Design and make a press mould tile
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • hc3d-9-multiples-thumb-1.png
    Activity
    How to cast a 3D object
    • KS2 (NI)
      KS2 (ENG)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
  • air-monet-painting-1.jpg
    Activity
    Artists in Residence: art, craft and design resources
    • EYFS (ENG)
      FD (NI)
      CfE EY (SCO)
      PS1 (WAL)
      KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • LSE_HOM_1994_351iii-001.jpg
    Round-up
    Art and design from around the world
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
  • acc-acc-acc5-2001-001-1.jpg
    Round-up
    Sculpture resources
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • LLR_AWC_0642-001.jpg
    Round-up
    Storytelling resources
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)

Do you know someone who would love this resource?
Tell them about it...

https://artuk.org/discover/topics/craft-art Copy
Link copied to clipboard!
  • bloomberg
  • dlb foundation
  • Supported by

    Arts CouncilArts Council
  • heritage fund
® is a registered trade mark of the Public Catalogue Foundation.
Art UK is the operating name of the Public Catalogue Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales (1096185) and Scotland (SC048601).

Follow us

    • Join us on Facebook
    • Follow us on YouTube
    • Top
  • Subscribe to newsletter
  • Donate to Art UK

Quick links

  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy policy
  • AI policy
  • Use of cookies
  • Copyright notice
  • Accessibility
  • Shop
  • Disclaimer
  • Jobs
  • Website credits
® is a registered trade mark of the Public Catalogue Foundation.
Art UK is the operating name of the Public Catalogue Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales (1096185) and Scotland (SC048601).