I think that my question is more to do with why Vala and Maiar felt that they may have needed certain skills. Aule is defendable; he was asked to make the lamps of the Valar. We may assume the others intuitively knew that he had a creative skill surpassing their own and this was where he, as it were, invented the craft. From there on we may assume he got interested in it and began 'experimenting' or something until he became a smith.
As for Osse, I find fewer answers. Why ships? They plainly didn't 'need' them to cross the sea. Any craft being devised for pleasure has usually been through a long period where it was simply necessary. Did Osse invent the art of ship building just for the elves, there and then? Had he been thinking about it for a while and then got a light bulb above his head?
As for the idea of crafts degrading over time, I suppose it depends on your perspective, really. Needs change over time and so crafts must adapt to them. The more adept a craft is, then the 'higher' it is. If you are talking purely about aesthetic beauty, in this modern age it may be argued that less thought is given to it than of old.
But yes, every good myth needs its Golden Age. It's a great plot devise, something to reminisce about and, often, bring some mystery. Numenor is a fine example. More than a Golden Age for men, really. It's a symbol that runs through the psyche of the descendants and those affected by them. Their craft and skill is but one part of their influence, you may say.
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