Museo Franz Mayer

"Museo Franz Mayer occupies a former colonial convent and is home to its namesake patron’s vast decorative-arts collection, focused on Mexico’s viceregal and early-republican epochs. Rarely crowded, the museum’s an oasis and temple for those who swoon over blue-tile or majolica ceramics; stately, extremely heavy furnishings; or other captivating gewgaws, such as ornate silver, tapestries, painted screens, and fans, in addition to oil portraits of nabobs from every historical period. In recent years, the museum has also cultivated an edgier calendar of temporary exhibitions, juxtaposing the permanent collection against present-day design themes and topical concerns."

"Franz Mayer was a German immigrant who lived in Mexico in the early 20th-century and amassed an enormous collection of decorative arts—everything from silver, to furnishings from the 16th-century on, to talavera tiles and pottery made in Puebla. Although he did acquire pieces in Europe and around the world, much of his collection was made in Mexico, and visiting the museum is a window into the elegant and elaborate furniture, paintings, and decorations that decorated the upper crust's homes during the colonial period. Upon his death, he left his collection and a generous trust to the Banco de Mexico, which opened the museum to the public in the '80s in an elegant, restored 16th-century ex-monastery. Aside from Mayer's inheritance, the museum continues to acquire special pieces and collections, and puts on great contemporary design exhibitions, too."

"German-born financier Franz Mayer amassed an extensive collection of Mexican silver, ceramics, textiles, and furniture in his adopted country. This private collection is now on permanent display at his namesake museum, in Mexico City's historic center. The beautiful everyday objects also include maps, globes, rugs, and books from around the world. After a complimentary guided tour, stop for a simple bite at the on-site café, set in a central courtyard that allws you to take in the building's architectural details—it was once an 18th-century monastery and hospital." - Susannah Rigg