History of Mexican Furniture Design
The history of Mexican Furniture Design has flourished from an eclectic cultural upbringing, with the use of natural materials and age-old craftsmanship techniques.
In Mesoamerica’s earlier stages, the Native Azteca enhanced their rural dwellings with various species of woods, cured animal skins, and woven tule (a spongy type of leaf material from the Bulrush plant). The well known “Petate'' bedroll, made from woven tule, provided a soft surface to sleep on and made these rural dwellings much more comfortable. These beds were universally found in every home during the Azteca period and in some cases, would be placed on top of low wood frames that provided more comfort and better protection.
Many other woven items such as rugs, baskets, chairs, and dividers, were used to soften and make dwellings comfortable. The same use of natural materials is still used today for “Mexican Furniture” and we personally love to keep the tradition of using these materials in manufacturing our furniture, as it brings a softness and natural feel into our Mexican Furniture designs.
During the 16th Century Mexico Colonial period, the Spanish conquistadores introduced their culture and technologies into native Mexico and changed the trajectory for native Mexican Furniture. The Spanish introduced carpentry specific tools as well as the art of woodworking and iron forging. Plus, all of the woods used for these furnishings were native; Mesquite, Rosa, Morada, and Pino, just to name a few. Mexican Furniture design took a major transformation during the Mexican Colonial period by introducing European manufacturing techniques and technologies. These furnishings took shape by mortise and tenon joints, paneled construction, and forged iron hardware. New tools were introduced such as a variety of: chisels, saws, smoothing planers, and workbenches.
The furniture designs from the Mexican Colonial period incorporated unique hand-carving, intricate forged iron hardware, and unique spindled leg posts. We pride ourselves in continuing these traditions of these age-old construction techniques in our Mexican Furniture designs built from the same rustic wood species. Our goal is to build furniture how it was built in the 16th century for people to enjoy today.
Below is a curated gallery of a few of our Mexican Furniture Designs. You will see that we strive to keep true to the traditions in the woodworking and sourcing of materials, while pushing Mexican Furniture design into a modern era.