About

Decortype is a visual reference of the world's classical decorative craft traditions — 470 craft genera represented by 2094 museum pieces, organized by material and technique. Click any craft to see its types, museum examples, and where to buy.

All photographs are open-access (CC0) images of works in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, gathered via their public APIs and audited for correct attribution. Each image links to the museum's own object record.

Price tiers are indicative, based on 2015–2025 auction results and retail ranges for typical examples of each craft — antique masterpieces and contemporary souvenirs of the same tradition can sit many tiers apart. The per-craft purchase links open live marketplace searches; always authenticate significant pieces independently.

Companion documents: a verified taxonomy with periods, places, and cross-regional lineages (classical-crafts.md) and the full market price-tier analysis (price-tiers.md).