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Artisan:

For the vocal harmony group, see Artisan (group).

For the defunct media company, see Artisan Entertainment.

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A Cameroonian artisan at work

An artisan is a skilled manual worker who crafts items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewelry, household items, and tools. The term can also be used as an adjective to refer to the craft of hand making food products, such as bread, beverages and cheese.

Manufacture by hand and with hand tools imparts unique and individual qualities to artisanal products, in contrast to mass produced goods where every one is nearly identical. Artisans traditionally work in media such as wood, ceramics, glass, common and precious metals, basketry, textiles, and leather.

1 Artisan origins
2 Artisan jewelry
3 Quilt artisans
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Artisan origins

Artisans were the dominant producers of goods before the Industrial Revolution. According to Classical economics theory, the division of labor occurs with internal market development (Adam Smith). However, according to economist John Hicks, merchants and artisans originated as servants to the rulers, which occurred much earlier. Artisans employ creative thinking and manual dexterity to produce their goods

[edit] Artisan jewelry

An artisan computer maker at work outside of his shop in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Artisan jewelry dates back as far as 7000 BC, when gold and copper began to be sculpted to adorn the human form, and the practice continues today. Although rarely price-competitive with machine-made items, artisan handmade jewelry is prized for its uniqueness, variety, and often unsurpassed beauty. Reflecting the talents of the artisan onto the wearer, the broad spectrum of artisan jewelry is available to provide satisfaction to royalty, rock stars, and "everyday folk." Thousands of jewelry artisans exist around the globe. Some fine examples of artisan jewelry can be seen at museums.^[1].

[edit] Quilt artisans

Quilt-maker artisans are called quilters. These artisans are mostly women who make quilts especially in their houses. Quilt making is traditional folk art worldwide, including south Asia where their traditional quilts are called Ralli quilts.