How did the fashion for Mexican furniture arrive in Britain?
Considering that Britain has no strong historical, geographical or cultural links with Mexico, it is perhaps surprising that the furniture style from that country should have become so immensely popular. If someone has a definitive answer to this, perhaps they could contact us, but in the meantime it is perhaps worth considering the history of both countries.
Mexico is immediately to the south of the modern-day USA and was originally populated and governed by indigenous civilisations such as the Olmec, the Maya and the Aztecs (none of whom had Mexican coffee tables! – coffee drinking originated in East Africa). In 1521 the country was occupied and then made a colony of Spain. This remained the situation for 300 years until, in 1821, Mexico gained its independence.
It is not surprising that, after 300 years of Spanish rule, Mexico had adopted many of the fashions or styles of its European governors. These included obvious features, such as the Spanish language, and less obvious things such as a similarity in the style of furniture – although Mexican coffee tables were still yet to be invented. Even a cursory study of Spanish Colonial furniture shows the styling shares many similarities to that of Mexican furniture. The native Mexican people adapted or embellished the style with, for example, the use of bold metal fittings demonstrating the skills of the country’s craftsmen in metalworking.
When Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821 its territory still included present-day Texas, California, Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Over the course of the 19th Century, these territories were all lost to the USA and in the 1860s the country was again invaded and colonised, this time by the French.
Spanish or Mexican coffee table?Why is this historical context relevant to the presence of Mexican furniture in Britain today? Well there are two reasons: the undoubted Spanish influence on the overall style of Mexican furniture and the subsequent French influence that may have been responsible for the fashion for Mexican furniture to be painted. But surely, Mexican furniture is not painted? Well it is certainly true that Mexican furniture as it is recognised today is not painted, but research in the USA suggests this may have come about due more to a misunderstanding than anything else.
Painted furniture was remarkably popular in Europe during the 18th and 19th Centuries, with many items not just in white, but in a host of different colours including reds and blues, we offer a wide range of
painted sideboards, painted coffee table even
painted dining tables and more. The American researcher indicates this habit or tradition was also common in Mexico. Mexican furniture at this time might possibly have been in a rich scarlet or red colour (though still not including Mexican coffee tables). However, the research indicates that as this furniture grew old and was replaced, Mexicans adopted the same approach as many of their European counterparts and simply put their old, painted, furniture in any convenient place outside.
Whereas in Europe this would soon see the destruction of the items, in Mexico the dry climate helped preserve this old furniture and the combined effects of sun and wind sandblasted off old paintwork and bleached the timbers. When, during the 1950s, tourists began travelling to Mexico across the Rio Grande from the USA they discovered this distressed, bare wood furniture and taking it to be ‘traditional’ Mexican furniture, they bought it from locals to furnish their own homes in the USA. This, concludes the research, created the myth that Mexican furniture was typically rustic and had a rough, bleached appearance.
This might explain the development of the typical Mexican furniture style and its presence in the USA but it does not explain its popularity in the UK. Cultural influences here would have come from Britain’s own colonies, dependencies’, protectorates and so forth. While this might explain African or Indian influences, Britain’s interests in South America were pretty much limited to the Bahamas, British Honduras, British Guiana and the West Indies.
America’s influence on British consumersThere are several potential explanations but two seem the most plausible. The first is that Mexican furniture in the UK was a consequence of American influences on consumers or, as some have termed it, American cultural imperialism. In other words, Britain copied, acquired or borrowed so many style and design icons from the USA, including everything from denim jeans to bubble gum and Cocoa Cola, that a liking for the American taste in furniture was a logical progression.
The other plausible theory relates to the introduction in Britain of cheap package holidays in the 1960s. Many ordinary British people were now able for the first time to travel abroad on holiday – particularly to Spain. Perhaps as a result of their experiences and their enjoyment of the country they may have developed a desire to emulate the Spanish look for interiors on their return home.
Some credence is perhaps lent to this idea by the fact that, during the 1970s, many bungalows were built in the UK with Spanish-style architectural features. The Spanish, in common with most other parts of Europe, had stopped painting their furniture long before this time so any shrewd furniture importer could have seen the similarity between Spanish and Mexican-style furniture and taken matters on from there - hence a UK market, at last, for Mexican coffee tables!