[f. prec. + -SHIP.] The performance or occupation of a craftsman; skill in clever or artistic work; skilled workmanship.
a. 1652. Brome, Queene’s Exch., II. Wks. 1873, III. 475. Now take thy piece of craftsmanship again.
1881. S. Colvin, in Macm. Mag., XLIII. 238/1. The poetry of Mr. Tennyson … will … interest and impress [the student] by choice and brilliant qualities of craftsmanship.
1882. J. Payne, 1001 Nights, II. 81. The doings of men are divided into four categories, government (or the exercise of authority), commerce, husbandry (or agriculture), and craftsmanship.
1884. F. Wedmore, in Fortn. Rev., Jan., 68. The patient craftsmanship of the engraver.
b. more generally: Exercise of craft or art.
1881. Saintsbury, Dryden, 61. The consummate craftsmanship with which he could throw himself into the popular feeling of the hour.
