The masters of a farmstead used to do everything themselves. He was a blacksmith and a carpenter, made his own barrels and kits, he also shoed his horses and made iron runners for his sledges, hammered his ploughs and harrows, crafted his household utensils, spoons, plates, mugs, piggins, boxes and cupboards, built his houses and stoves, and so on, and so forth. A rare thing it is today to come across one man who can see to all these tasks. In rural districts we find all kinds of artisans more than ever...

Estonian daily Postimees, 1892

Village artisans had in fact lived side by side with such industrious and skilful farmers for hundreds of years. The oldest and most respected among them was the job of a blacksmith - the village community usually sustained an artisan whose job was often passed on from father to son. Many farmers, though, did simpler metalwork at home: on the island of Saaremaa, for instance, the majority of farmsteads also included a tiny smithy.

The age of, and respect for, the blacksmith's profession is indicated by the fact that the Estonian terms for later artisans include the word sepp 'smith', such as in puusepp 'carpenter', püttsepp 'cooper', kingsepp 'shoemaker, cobbler', rätsep 'tailor', värsisepp 'poet, verse-wright', etc. A brightsmith's profession has usually been considered an urban artisanship, although there are notions of Estonian 'brooch-makers' and silversmiths in rural areas from the Middle Ages. However, they became ever rarer along with the deterioration of the status of Estonian peasantry. In the late 19th century - which is the period during which the majority of Estonian ethnographical collections were put together - it was only such tasks as casting simpler tin, brass and bronze decorations in moulds that were done mostly by peasants themselves or local blacksmiths.