In this essay the practical functions of the arts and crafts, in general, have been furnished as empty places into which specific practices can be put. The essay unfolds as two interlocking narratives. The first is the story of epistemological ambiguity inherent in the representation of knowledge. The second is the tale of political exclusion of those who make a livelihood in the pursuit of technical interests. Since archaic times, the poets have never been forgiven for corrupting the innocence of perception with their crafty virtuosity. Originally created as an artefact in the image of the forge and of the rhetorical song, knowledge, as a faithful representation of the world, has been cast into doubt. The etymological resemblance between virtuosity and virtue is deeply implicated in the paradoxes which beset the conventional production of knowledge. Virtuosity is born out of the poetic intuition that the world will not reveal itself voluntarily. Knowing in the pre-Socratic world demanded that its entities be tricked into disclosure, and required their entrapment as fugitives of time. If entities in the archaic world were understood to behave like elusive and deceptive prey, then knowledge was composed of the enduring stories told about their revelation and capture. However, mistrust in the accounts related by these stories grew as the virtuosity immanent in crafting them was increasingly perceived as deceptive and self-serving. Poetic stories needed to be tested for their virtue before they could be written into universal rules. The concept of virtuosity connotes the ethical dualisms of talent and forgery, technique and substance, to mention a few. Nonetheless, understanding how the ambiguities of virtuoso practice are misrecognised in society is of central importance in enhancing the professional autonomy of the practitioner. Contemporary theories of art and education that set out to resolve, rather than incorporate, these ambiguities into their explanations misrepresent the nature of practical work. A theory of practice must seek to make a virtue of virtuosity. (Contains 14 notes.)