WHICH IS IT? ARTS AND CRAFTS, MISSION, OR CRAFTSMAN?

The terms Mission, Craftsman, and Arts and Crafts are often mistakenly used interchangeably. In fact, they have quite distinct meanings. Arts and Crafts is the umbrella term that applies generally to all crafts—from tiles and textiles to ceramics, furniture, and illuminated manuscripts—produced under the influence of anti-industrialist ideas for social reform. The ideas were first articulated by John Ruskin and William Morris. The term Arts and Crafts was coined after the Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1888 in London. The movement, which emphasized hand craftsmanship, honest design, and local materials, began in England, then spread to continental Europe and America.

Mission refers generally to rectilinear American furniture of the Arts and Crafts movement. The term was apparently coined with reference to the simple, solid furniture of some Spanish missions in California. It's believed to have been first applied to work by Joseph McHugh but was subsequently adopted almost universally in the marketing campaigns of major American furniture manufacturers. Much of this furniture was originally inspired by Gustav Stickley's Craftsman line of furniture.

Craftsman is the trade name Stickley chose for his line of Arts and Crafts furniture. Although much American-manufactured furniture was made in imitation of Stickley's Craftsman line, none but Stickley's is properly called Craftsman furniture.

Arts & Crafts Furniture: From Classic to Contemporary
The Taunton Press, 2003