This grew up in Britain and the United States in the latter part of the 19^th century as a reaction against the use of mechanical mass production.  Instead, the proponents of this movement believed that a ‘creator’ should be close to what was produced – there was a dependency on quality, craftsmen produced items that were simple ie not covered in ‘Victorian’ over embellishment, and of good design.

Themes that were popular were medieval and Nature inspired.

Examples of designers, architects and artists of the time include –

William Morris
Augustus Pugin
Edward Burne-Jones