The furniture craft in Vilnius in the second half of the 19–20th centuries: development and exhibitions

The development of the furniture craft in Vilnius in the second half of the 19th – beginningof the 20th centuries, as well as the status of the furniture craftsmen belonging to the guilds,acquisition of professional skills, training and participation in Vilnius exhibitions are presented.The mass-produced products spread in the Western European market in the second half of the 19thcentury gained ill-feeling to the industrial production articles and raised nostalgia. The Arts andCrafts Movement in Great Britain became the resistance expression of the mass industrial produc-tion. This movement inspired by artists, when the wares of craftsmen were driven out by industrialproducts, stimulated the revival of the old crafts, returning to the hand-made wares and admirationfor the medieval craftsmen guilds. Indeed, the situation in Lithuania was different. The develop-ment of the advanced and modern craftsmanship was impeded by the medieval relict – the guildsystem, which existed until the end of the 19th century. Craftsmen of the guilds defending theirmonopoly production rights fought against non-guild craftsmen, craftsmen from other cities andtraders and opposed the establishment of the capitalist industry companies. In the second halfof the 19th century, the furniture production was based on the craftsmen works predominatedin Lithuania continuing the traditions of the guilds craftsmanship. The collision between craftsand industrial production manifested not as the hostile disposition against the mass-producedfurniture, but as an attempt on the guild’s production monopoly.Until the 19th century, the old crafts learning system in the guilds existed in Vilnius. The acqui-sition of occupational skills was hierarchized. Learner–apprentice–master was the traditionalscheme of the craft secrets mastering and the development of the professional career. Only atthe end of the 19th century – beginning of the last century, new processes originated along withthe repercussions of the craft movement. The special courses and schools of crafts, which raisedthe professional level of craftsmen, mitigated backwardness and represented modern craft ideas.At the turn of the 19–20th centuries, the ideas of a new modern style reached Vilnius. The exhi-bitions of art and crafts were invoked for the dissemination and introduction of these ideas tocraftsmen and society. After application of new artistic ideas, they reflected the turn of the formerworkshop craftsman towards the modern applied art creator. However, derivations of differenthistoric styles (Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival, etc.) were the most demanded types amongVilnius society and furniture manufacturers until the turn of the 19–20th centuries. At first,the takeover of new modern artistic tendencies (English, German) was reflected in the furnituredesign in the exhibition in 1909. The influence of European design tendencies was also reflectedin the popularization of production and increased demand for weaved and bamboo furniture atthe beginning of the last century.