Apprenticeship Patterns

CHAPTER SEVEN

Conclusion

Craftsmen take pride most in skills that mature. This is why simple imitation is not a sustaining satisfaction; the skill has to evolve.

Richard Sennett, The Craftsman

When we started writing this book, we merely wanted to provide advice to aspiring apprentices—those who aspire to a craft. However, there are limitations as well as opportunities in a craft approach.

The violins and cellos that were made in the workshop of Antonio Stradivari in the 17th and 18th centuries are considered the finest ever made. They regularly sell for millions of dollars, and over the last 300 years there have been many attempts to reproduce them. However, as written in The Craftsman (p. 75): “the secrets of masters like Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, have indeed died with them. Mountains of cash and endless experiments have failed to prize out the secrets of these masters. Something in the character of these workshops must have inhibited knowledge transfer.” As Stradivari got older and could no longer be as active in the daily life of his apprentices, the quality of the instruments made in his workshop dropped. Since his workshop “revolved around the extraordinary talents of an individual” and Stradivari could not pass on his genius to his apprentices, his workshop died with him (The Craftsman, p. 76).

Stradivari’s apprentices included his two sons, and he had no incentive to hide anything from them. As far as we know he taught them everything he knew. Or rather, he taught ...