Mexican Glass

Mexican glassmaking was perhaps brought to Mexico from Spain, although the present glass is less sophisticated than the earlier Spanish-Mexican glass.

Mexican glass, whether made in Guadalajara, Mexico City, or Jalisco or some other place is characteristically the same; variations appear in craftsmanship and materials, but essentially Mexican glass is of light weight, bubbly texture and for the most part in the cooler blues, greens, ambers, and reds with just occasional production in other hues. Shapes are generous and utilitarian and ordinarily marked by spiral swirls and whorls. Most of it is hand blown, with not too much attention to symmetry or academic art principles. Nevertheless it has a peculiar charm which ideally complements a table set with some of the coarser stone and earthenwares on rough or homespun fabrics.

Mexican glass is largely the product of the craftsman who continues the traditional shapes and colors, unmolested by experimenting artists and innovators. Perhaps the most typical and oft-recurring design is the Virgin of Guadalupe bottle, on which the patron saint is impressed in flowing garments.