It seems self-evident that the maker of a thing is the person (or group) who physically manufactures it. However, an object comes into being in the first place often as a result of a commission from a patron (who may also be a collective rather than an individual). The patron may play a considerable role in determining what the object looks like, either by describing it or by stating that it should look similar to an already existing example. These processes demonstrate the importance of tradition in determining the form of an object (or indeed a performance or display). In such cases the maker can be seen to be contributing to, but also benefiting from, all of those patrons and artists who have developed the tradition to its present state. The role of an individual in conceiving the form may thus be quite different from his or her role in manufacturing it. This distinction between conception and realisation can be obscured by the word 'artist', which generally implies that they are part of an indissoluble package.