Introducing Mexican Hand Craft

Posted by Mike Tarpey on

New Collection

Introducing Mexican Hand Craft

Six collections of handmade tile and pavers, rooted in the colors, craft and character of Mexico.

Alexander James  ·  Collection Launch

Entry installation featuring handmade Mexican tile from the California Collection at Alexander James

We're excited to introduce Mexican Hand Craft, a new collection at Alexander James bringing together some of our favorite expressions of Mexican tilemaking: colorful hand-painted Talavera, dimensional decorative tile, richly glazed solids and handmade clay pavers.

The collection includes Talavera, California, Talavera Solids, Santa Barbara Solids, Saltillo Pavers and Lincoln Pavers.

Different materials. Different techniques. Different applications. But all sharing something we love: the unmistakable character of something made by hand.

Collection 01

Talavera

Bold color, intricate pattern and a whole lot of personality.

Our Talavera Collection celebrates traditional Mexican decorative tile through florals, geometrics, borders and repeating patterns in classic blues, greens, yellows and earthy reds.

Each piece is individually made and decorated, creating the slight variations in line, glaze and color that give a Talavera installation its depth and character.

Use it for a full backsplash, a fireplace surround, stair risers, a powder room, or simply as an accent where a little pattern can completely change a space.

Shop the Talavera Collection →

Collection 02

California

The decorative tradition, taken in a slightly different direction.

Inspired by the tilework found throughout California's Spanish Revival architecture, these designs pair softer, earthier colors with dimensional relieved patterns.

The raised surfaces catch light, collect glaze and add texture that changes as you move through the room.

They feel particularly at home in kitchens, fireplaces, fountains, stairways and the indoor-outdoor spaces that define so much of California architecture.

Shop the California Collection →

Collection 03

Talavera Solids

Sometimes the color is the pattern.

Talavera Solids take the saturated palette of traditional Mexican ceramics and translate it into richly glazed field tile.

Because they're handmade, the surface isn't perfectly uniform. Glaze pools, tones shift and individual pieces react slightly differently during firing.

Put them together and a single color becomes a surface with movement. They're beautiful on their own and an easy companion to the patterned Talavera collection.

Shop Talavera Solids →

Collection 04

Santa Barbara Solids

A quieter take on handmade glazed tile.

The palette moves toward warm neutrals, earth tones and coastal colors designed to work naturally with the California Collection and the relaxed Spanish and Mediterranean architecture we love here on the Central Coast.

Use them as field tile, mix colors, or pair them with decorative pieces to let pattern become an accent rather than the entire installation.

Shop Santa Barbara Solids →

Collection 05

Saltillo Pavers

From glaze to clay.

Saltillo Pavers bring an entirely different material into the collection. Handmade from the naturally warm clay associated with Saltillo, Mexico, these pavers range through oranges, ochres, reds and earthy terracotta tones.

The variation is part of their beauty. Individual tiles carry subtle differences in color, texture, shape and firing. Across a floor or patio, those differences create the warm, lived-in surface that has made Saltillo tile a staple of Mexican, Spanish, Mediterranean and California architecture for generations.

Shop Saltillo Pavers →

Collection 06

Lincoln Pavers

And one we're particularly excited about.

Lincoln expands our handmade Mexican paver offering with a deeper, richer expression of terracotta and an incredible assortment of traditional shapes.

While they share the handmade character of Saltillo, the difference begins with the clay. Lincoln Pavers are made from clay sourced from a different geographic region, giving them their naturally deeper coloration and distinctive character.

The collection includes classic squares and rectangles alongside hexagons, octagons, lanterns, pickets, crosses, Riviera, San Felipe and other specialty shapes. That opens up a huge range of possibilities, from simple running patterns to geometric floors and intricate combinations built entirely from clay. The shape, color and natural variation of the material do the work.

Shop Lincoln Pavers →

Made to mix. Made to use.

What we like most about Mexican Hand Craft is how much territory it covers.

Start with pattern. Build around it with handmade solids. Move from glazed ceramic into natural clay. Or combine materials throughout a project to create a common language between kitchens, baths, fireplaces, stairs, patios and outdoor spaces.

And because these materials are handmade, variation isn't something to hide from.

It's part of what you're buying.

Subtle differences in glaze, color, texture, dimension and edge are what give these surfaces their character, and what allow an installation to feel collected rather than manufactured.

Explore

Mexican Hand Craft

Six collections and hundreds of ways to put them together.

Not sure where to start?

Tell us about the space, send us your inspiration, or show us what you're trying to pair with. We love helping put the pieces together.

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