Franz Mayer Museum - The Collection

The Collection

The collection of the museum is mostly that of Franz Mayer himself, collected over the course of fifty years and is the largest collection of decorative arts in Latin America. The museum has 9,500 pieces of art, 1,400 pieces of ceramics and 10,000 books, with only 28% able to be shown at any time in the museum proper. The collection includes silverwork, ceramics, furniture, textiles, fine arts and decorations made of pre Hispanic style feather work, lacquer, ivory, shell, glass and enamel, mostly of pieces from the 16th to the 19th centuries with a variety of places of origin, materials and styles. Most of the pieces are those used in everyday life, but finely handcrafted. A number of pieces come from Europe and Asia, but Mayer acquired a very large quantity of pieces from Mexico City, Puebla and Guanajuato. The collection of textiles is one of the most important in the country for its variety with about 260 pieces from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Many of his items are those which were susceptible to disappearing as they are everyday items often not considered worth preserving.

The furniture collection is one of the richest in Mexico for its variety. The museum houses 710 pieces which date from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Most are from Mexico’s colonial period although there are pieces from Europe and Asia.

The silver collection contains just under 1,300 pieces from the 15th to 19th centuries, and is recognized as one of the most important in Mexico. The pieces include repoussé work, chiseling, graffito and filigree, along with pieces set with precious and semi-precious stones and those containing enamels and others with gold. Most are pieces related to Catholic liturgy and include censers, chalices, lamps, candlesticks, ciboriums, crosses and tabernacles, but there are also non-religious pieces such as gold cigarette cases, cutlery, plays and trays.

The textile collection is one of the most varied in Mexico, standing out as one of few collections in the country with significant samples. Much of the current collection consists of recent acquisitions, but it began with Mayer collecting rebozos, then blankets from Saltillo, Flemish tapestries, shawls from Manila, dresses and liturgical garments. Mexican textiles include those from the colonial period made on backstrap as well as European pedal looms. There are also pieces with fine embroidery including the use of gold and silver thread. Many of the rugs are from Europe and Spain but with Oriental motifs.

The museum is one of the few places where European and Mexican painting is displayed together. European works date back as far as the 14th century, with those from Spain dating from the 14th to the 20th centuries. These include works by José de Ribera “El Españoleto”, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Ignacio Zuloaga. Italian art is represented by works by Lorenzo Lotto, and Alessandro Allori. Northern European painters include Jacob Grimmer and Bartholomeus Bruyn. Mexican works are mostly from the colonial period and include pieces by Juan Correa, Miguel Cabrera, Juan and Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez and others. Almost of these are religious in nature, with a few portraits from the 18th century. Post colonial works include a landscape by José María Velasco and an early painting by Diego Rivera .

In the 1920s, Mayer began collecting Talavera pottery from Puebla, one of the first collectors to do so. In Puebla, he was considered a bit crazy for buying all of the "old stuff" from the locals. The museum opened with the largest Puebla Talavera collection in the world with 726 pieces from the 17th to the 19th centuries and some 20th-century pieces by Enrique Luis Ventosa.

One important part of the museum complex is the Rogerio Casas-Alatriste H. Library, named after the first director. It is dedicated to Mayer’s book collection most of which were bought to research pieces which Mayer had bought or was interested in. The library is in the cloister area, containing with over 14,000 volumes, which includes 800 different editions of Don Quixote and the Chronicles of Nuremberg, edited in 1493. The interior of the library is a Classical design with shelving made of cedar to protect the books. The wood floor of the library was that of the Mayer’s original house as well as the terrarium and the candelabra .