It has long been recognized that there is a very thin line separating the arts and crafts—at least where the best and most innovative crafts are concerned. Jewelry, glass objects, pottery and furniture are all featured in the decorative arts components of the major art museums.

Further evidence of this blurring of the boundaries may be found in the contemporary crafts movement, where decorative or functional objects often look much like contemporary art. Often one of a kind, such pieces ar...