Killer Whale Hat, by Preston Singletary and based on the design of a traditional Pacific Northwest Indian hat, is at the show “Craft in America: Expanding Traditions” at the Fuller Craft Museum.

Image courtesy of Mira Nakashima Russell Johnson

BROCKTON, Mass. From a classic Tiffany vase to a traditional Navajo blanket to a pair of blown-glass bowls by Dale Chihuly, “Craft in America: Expanding Traditions” at the Fuller Craft Museum has something for everyone. But the show, which offers a quick drive-through look at American craft from the 19th to the 21st centuries, also takes an unusual approach to its subject.

Rather than following a strict chronology, in which the oldest pieces come first, the show opens with a gallery of contemporary pieces, then works its way back in time. Surprisingly, this reverse timeline — call it the Benjamin Button Effect — actually strengthens the connections between the show’s older works and those of contemporary masters like Chihuly.

One of the highlights of the opening gallery, for example, is a so-called “Conoid” bench by the great 20th-century furniture-maker George Nakashima. Considered an icon of modern design, it consists of a massive slab of wood outfitted with a set of stoutly tapered legs and a traditional spindle-style back. The contrast between the heavy slab-like seat and the delicate spindles gives the bench a wonderful sculptural quality, at once rough-hewn and refined.

Near the end of the show, we meet the great-great-granddaddy of the Nakashima bench: a mid-19th-century “Meeting House Bench” fashioned by Shaker woodworkers in Enfield, N.H. Though not as flamboyant as the Nakashima piece, it has the simple, homespun beauty that has long been a hallmark of Shaker design. (It also looks a lot more comfortable.)

In a more conventional exhibition, the two benches might have been placed side by side, just to make sure everyone gets the connection. Here, their separation serves a more effective purpose — highlighting the dialogue between old and new, traditional and contemporary that hums throughout the exhibit while providing viewers with a final, back-to-the-future moment.

Organized by the Los Angeles-based Craft in America foundation and featuring more than 200 artworks from Shaker boxes and Native American baskets to contemporary glass, furniture and jewelry, the show has many such back-to-the-future moments.

The geometric forms on a traditional Pueblo Indian jar, for example, find a contemporary echo in the abstract sgraffito patterns etched in a bowl by 20th-century ceramic artists Mary and Edwin Scheir. Another ceramic piece, Pot Green and Red with Handles by the brilliantly eccentric 19th-century potter George Ohr, gets a 21st-century update in Vessel Display #15, a work by contemporary glassmaker Dante Marioni. Even that all-American classic, the rocking chair, gets a modern makeover, courtesy of contemporary furniture-maker Sam Maloof.

Nor does the process of recycling and reinterpreting the past show any signs of letting up. Like Nakashima’s Conoid bench, Gerrit Rietveld’s Red and Blue Chair is considered an icon of 20th-century design. But that didn’t stop contemporary furniture-maker Gary Knox Bennett from creating his own version, complete with a kinky, cubist-style back and seat.

Likewise, anyone who saw the RISD Museum’s recent Dale Chihuly exhibit will recognize a family resemblance in IGS VI #11, a work by contemporary glass artist Marvin Liposky that suggests a half-melted version of one of Chihuly’s famed Macchia series sculptures.

Still, the show’s title is a little misleading. Rather than a soup-to-nuts survey of American craft, “Craft in America” is more like a brief but well-edited slideshow. Major historical movements such as Arts & Crafts, Art Deco and Art Nouveau are illustrated with one or two items. And key historical figures like Ohr (pottery) and Tiffany (glass) get only one work apiece.

For many viewers, that will probably be more than enough. For the rest, there’s a 300-page exhibition catalog, a “Craft in America” television series (now available in a three-DVD set) and a Web site ( www.craftinamerica.org) filled with craft-related links and information.

With so much background information available through its catalog and Web site, it’s no surprise that “Craft in America” tends to focus most of its attention on contemporary craft. After all, for every craft superstar like a Dale Chihuly there are dozens of lesser-known potters, jewelry designers, quilt-makers and woodworkers toiling in the shadows. (The “Craft in America” television series, which aired on PBS stations in 2007 and 2008, also focused mainly on contemporary artisans.)

At the same time, many of the show’s most interesting pieces come from artists who are equally adept at channeling both traditional crafts and contemporary art.

Chihuly’s Tabac Baskets, for example, were inspired by the Northwest Indian baskets he encountered growing up in Tacoma, Wash. Yet the swirling colors and patterns that decorate the sides of the bowls also evoke another, more contemporary art movement: Abstract Expressionism.

Another staple of contemporary art — political commentary — also crops up in a number of works.

One of the most striking examples is Nancy Worden’s Armed and Dangerous, a pendant-style necklace festooned with bullet casings and torn-up dollar bills. Patti Warashina’s Oil Slick, meanwhile, turns a traditional sake set into an angry commentary on the Iraq War. (Yes, that’s right, a sake set. The two sake servers — both of which work, by the way — feature caricatures of George Bush and Dick Cheney, while the sake cups are shaped like tiny oil drums.)

Other artists use technology to transform traditional art forms. A work by contemporary quilt-maker Michael James, for example, includes swatches of photo-printed fabric. And a piece by fiber artist Lia Cook was created using a computer-guided jacquard loom.

Finally, the show features several artists and artisans with Ocean State ties.

Chihuly, of course, taught at the Rhode Island School of Design for many years before decamping to the Seattle area in the mid-1908s. Two current RISD professors — furniture-makers Alphonse Mattia and Rosanne Somerson — are also represented. (Interestingly, both contribute playful chair designs; Mattia’s is painted to look like a Catholic nun, while Somerson’s Tall Black Chair features a very tall back and looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland.)

Other notables include Dan Dailey (a RISD-trained sculptor and glassmaker who designed the chandelier in the PPAC lobby) and Judy Kensley McKie (another RISD grad who’s known for her animal-themed furniture and woodcarvings.)

“Craft in America: Expanding Traditions” runs through May 25 at the Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton. Museum hours: Monday-Sunday 10-5 and Wednesday 10-9. Admission: $8 adults, $5 seniors and students, free under 12. Contact: (508) 588-6000; www.fullercraft.org.

bvansicl@projo.com