IF THE phrase "arts and crafts movement" leads you to think of trestle tables stacked with tea cosies, tablet and cutesy home-made trinkets, then think again. The "home arts" played a major role in this movement a century ago, but along with the pioneering designs of determined professionals these were among the most radical statements of their day.

This was an age when cheap mass production was superseding artisans' workshops, leaving the urban environmentincreasinglydevoidofthe human touch. The poor were cooped up like battery hens and art, far from their reach, was an elevated discipline: bytherich,fortherich.Anew generation of artists, both liberal and socialist, wanted to make that world a better place.

Although the movement had its roots in London with figures such as William MorrisandWalterCrane,itwas immediately embraced by the Scots. Considering its foundations in democraticsocialism,withadiscernible presbyterian streak, it couldn't have failed to catch on here. From the start,theScottishartsandcraftsmovement developed its own distinct identity, producing such figures as CharlesRennieMackintoshinGlasgow and Phoebe Anna Traquair in Edinburgh.

It's surprising, given the strength of themovementinScotland,that no-one has singled it out for study until now. With the arrival of the first book on the subject by Dr Elizabeth Cumming, Edinburgh's City Art Centre has followed suit with the world's first major exhibition on the arts and crafts movement in Scotland.

Co-curated by Cumming, the exhibition presents a historically detailed accountofthemovement'smany interlinked individuals and organisations. Covering 60 years from 1880, it is packed with 350 objects ranging from grand architectural plans to tiny enamelled jewellery, and almost as much textual information as the book.

Arranged over three floors, in the heavy atmosphere of a gallery whose airconditioning,despiteimprovements, still leaves much to be desired, the show is something of a marathon. Though there are chairs everywhere (mostly Mackintosh originals), there is great competition for the few seats one is actually allowed to sit on.

It all started in earnest in Glasgow in 1883, with the formation of a branch of the Kyrle Society. Their aim was "to bring the influence of natural and artistic beauty home to the people", by supplying free music concerts, artworks,flowerseeds,andevening classes in subjects as diverse as handicrafts and hygiene.

Two years later, the Edinburgh Social Union (ESU) was formed, with similar aims.Morethan20decorative schemes (in public buildings such as hospitals and missions) were arranged and paid for by the ESU, the only surviving example being the murals at the Sick Children's Hospital by Phoebe Anna Traquair. Designed to comfort bereavedparents,Traquair'sfiery-haired angels combine the various beautiesofmedievalmanuscripts, Byzantine decoration and the romance of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Traquairwasaleadingfigurein Edinburgh's arts and crafts scene, and herdynamicstyle,alongwiththe painter John Duncan's, best sums it up. Under the influence of cultural impresario Patrick Geddes, Celtic revivalism played a strong part in their designs. For Geddes, the Celt was "rich in all savemoney", while the Saxon was "poor in all save paper wealth".

Glasgow's movement had different stylistic leanings. It began with the Glasgowschool,knownfortheir painterly rural scenes, mixing French and Japanese influences. In time, the movement would spawn the Glasgow style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his circle, bringing the arts and crafts ever closer to art nouveau.

The wide range of styles in Hand, Heart And Soul is because, unusually for an artistic movement, appearance wasnotitsdefiningfeature.More important was the urge to bring art into the everyday world; to improve people's houses and cities with beautiful things which they could touch and use. "The design and decoration of a pepper pot," said artist Jessie Newbery, "is as important, in its degree, as the conception of a cathedral."

Artistsdiscardedthetraditional hierarchies between the fine art of painting, and applied arts such as furniture-making,textiles,metalwork, bookbinding, and jewellery. Along with thisbreakingdownofboundaries came another radical change: women became highly visible in the professional art world.

One of the most gratifying features of this show is the number of women artists represented. The rise of applied arts attracted many more women to Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and by 1901 almost half of its students were female, aswerea considerablenumberof their teachers.

These women, like the determinedly professionalTraquair,wereserious about their artistic pursuits. As Fra Newbery, head of the GSA between 1885 and 1918, put it, "the dilettante young lady who would decorate tambourines and milking stools with impossibleforget-me-notsand sunflowershasbeenentirely weeded out".

Inherplace,weseetheworkof skilfulmetalworkers,professionalbookillustratorsandworld- class embroiderers.