Useful arts

Useful arts

Useful arts (also called technics) are concerned with the skills and methods of practical subjects such as manufacture and craftsmanship. The word has now gone out of fashion, but it was coined during the Victorian era as an antonym to the performing arts and the fine arts.

The term "Useful Arts" is used in the United States Constitution, which is the basis of United States patent and copyright law:

"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;…"

In the clause, the phrase "useful Arts" is meant to reference inventions, while "Science" is meant to reference human knowledge, including that which is encompassed in literature and the "fine arts".


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts — Tomlinson’s Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts is a multi volume encyclopedia focusing on manufacturing, mining, and engineering. It was edited by Charles Tomlinson, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a lecturer at King’s College School, London. The… …   Wikipedia

  • The useful arts — Art Art ([aum]rt), n. [F. art, L. ars, artis, orig., skill in joining or fitting; prob. akin to E. arm, aristocrat, article.] 1. The employment of means to accomplish some desired end; the adaptation of things in the natural world to the uses of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures — The Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures was edited by Charles Tomlinson and published in London by George Virtue. It was published in 1852 in two 4to volumes (vol. 1, 832pp, vol. 2, 1052pp) with 40 steel engravings and 2,477 woodcuts. A… …   Wikipedia

  • Useful — Use ful, a. Full of use, advantage, or profit; producing, or having power to produce, good; serviceable for any end or object; helpful toward advancing any purpose; beneficial; profitable; advantageous; as, vessels and instruments useful in a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • useful — usefully, adv. usefulness, n. /yoohs feuhl/, adj. 1. being of use or service; serving some purpose; advantageous, helpful, or of good effect: a useful member of society. 2. of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results;… …   Universalium

  • useful — /ˈjusfəl / (say yoohsfuhl) adjective 1. being of use or service; serving some purpose; serviceable, advantageous, helpful, or of good effect. 2. of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results; supplying common needs: the useful… …  

  • arts, East Asian — Introduction       music and visual and performing arts of China, Korea, and Japan. The literatures of these countries are covered in the articles Chinese literature, Korean literature, and Japanese literature.       Some studies of East Asia… …   Universalium

  • Arts and Crafts Movement — The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. Inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and a romantic idealization of… …   Wikipedia

  • Arts Theatre — Coordinates: 51°30′43″N 0°07′39″W / 51.511944°N 0.1275°W / 51.511944; 0.1275 …   Wikipedia

  • Arts and crafts — This article is about the hobby. For other uses, see Arts Crafts (disambiguation). At the Buell Children s Museum in Pueblo, Colorado, children and their guardians partake in arts and crafts. Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities… …   Wikipedia

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