About the Directory

The Directory of Traditional American Crafts is an honor bestowed on a handful of artisans who work in traditional media, styles, and crafts, an award that singles out their work as the best now produced in America today. Each year a jury of museum curators, collectors, and other authorities selects the work of the top traditional crafters working in America to be honors and listed in the Directory, which appears in Early American Life magazine.

In addition to being an honor for the artists, the Directory is also a buying guide. It presents to you a selection of the best historically informed handwork in America today. The Directory will help you select the best furniture, pottery, ironwork, decorative objects, and more for period-correct decorating, collecting, or movie-making.

Jurying and Hallmarking

An artist who has been selected for the Directory has had his or her work thoroughly evaluated by a panel of experts. They have graded the artist's work as showing a mastery of the chosen craft, a mastery that represents the top of its individual field and may even be suitable for museum display. (Click here to find out more about how we judge the Directory.) This jurying assures you not only of the top-notch skill involved in making the work but also its historic integrity. The work included in the Directory is either an accurate reproduction of historic work or an original interpretation of a historic style that is entirely consistent with its historic roots.  But to assure this high-quality work is not mistaken for an actual antique, the Directory requires all work to be hallmarked. (Click here to find out more about this policy.)