Glossary of Early American Crafts

Here you will find a slide show with a brief explanation of each of our crafts, along with an illustration of a fine example. Click on any blue title in the list below to go to its glossary entry page. From that page you can navigate to the next, or come back here and choose another.

Country Painting. A style of painting with brush strokes, popular in America in... (click here for more)

Free Hand Bronze. Bronze powders are applied to a hand... (click here for more)

Gold and Metal Leaf. In this craft, thin sheets of metal are used to apply decoration to objects... (click here for more)

Painting on Glass. The skills used may include painting, stenciling, or metal leaf work... (click here for more)

Pontypool. The name Pontypool refers to the town in England where japanning, a baked finish... (click here for more)

Stenciling. One must first cut out the stencils of design parts... (click here for more)

Theorem Painting. A combination of several stencils is used to produce a painted design... (click here for more)

Victorian Flower Painting. A style of decorative painting named for its period. Realistic flowers... (click here for more)

Clock Dials. Subjects are often floral, scenic, pastoral, or nautical; hunting scenes... (click here for more)

HSEAD offers Teacher Accreditation in each of these fields, a Master Craftsman Award, a Specialist Award, and "A" and "B" Awards to those who have met the society's requirements.

Be sure to visit our Gallery of recent award winning work by members.

You might also be interested in A Beginner's Guide to Early American Decoration, from the first issue of The Decorator.

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