How did Mexican style arrive in Britain?
Mexico, the country is immediately to the south of the USA. It was originally populated and controlled by the indigenous civilisations such as the Olmec, the Maya and the Aztecs (none of whom had Mexican wardrobes) but in 1521 the country became a colony of Spain. This situation prevailed for 300 years, until Mexico became independent in 1821. With 300 years as a colony of the Spanish Empire it is not surprising that the country acquired many of the trappings of its European rulers. These included the language and the style of furniture - perhaps even Mexican wardrobes.
A study of Spanish Colonial furniture will reveal that it has many similarities to that of Mexican furniture. In Mexico the style was embellished with the use of exposed metal hinges and metal fittings designed to show off Mexico’s skills in tinsmithing.
Following Mexico’s independence in 1821 it lost further territory to the USA, including Texas, California, Wyoming, Idaho, Oklahoma, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Then in the 1860s it was invaded and colonized by the French.
Spanish or Mexican wardrobe?
Why is this relevant to Mexican furniture? Well there are two reasons: the Spanish influence on the style of the furniture and then the later European influence that encouraged Mexican furniture to be painted. Surely you will argue, Mexican furniture isn’t painted? Well it’s certainly true that what we understand today as Mexican furniture is not painted, but research in the USA suggests this may be due more to a misunderstanding than anything else.
Many Europeans in the 18th and 19th Centuries had a fondness for painting their furniture – and not just in white, but a host of different colours including reds and blues. The research indicates this habit or tradition was also prevalent in Mexico. Mexican wardrobes at this time were quite likely to have been in a rich scarlet or red colour.
However, the theory goes that as this furniture grew old and was replaced, many Mexican householders simply put the old, painted, furniture outside. The dry climate did not rot the discarded furniture but the combined effects of sun and wind did sandblast off the old paintwork and bleach the timbers. When American tourists began traveling Mexico in the 1950s they discovered this ‘traditional’ Mexican furniture and bought it from locals to furnish their own homes in the USA. Hence the myth was borne that Mexican furniture was typically rustic, with a rough, bleached appearance.
Of course this would explain the appearance of Mexican furniture in the United States of America, but not in the UK. Britain’s overseas links or influences would have come from its own catalogue of colonies, dependencies’, protectorates and so forth. This would explain African or Indian influences but Britain’s interests in South America were pretty much limited to the Bahamas, British Honduras, British Guiana and the West Indies.
American cultural imperialism
There are two potential explanations: one is that Mexican furniture in the UK was one of the results of American cultural imperialism. In other words, the Americans gave us so many style and design icons, from car styling to bubble gum and Cocoa Cola that a liking for their taste in furniture was a logical progression. The other theory is that with the arrival in Britain of cheap package holidays in the 1960s, many people would have traveled abroad on holiday for the first time – particularly to Spain. Once there, the enjoyment of the place and its surroundings could have spawned a desire for Spanish style furniture on returning home.
The fact that many bungalows were built in the 1970s with Spanish-style architectural features and archways between, for example, living and dining rooms, lends some support to this idea.. The Spanish, in common with many other parts of Europe, had stopped painting their furniture by 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 the UK market for Mexican wardrobes!