Wender·Vista
Kandahar
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileAfghanistan
in southern Afghanistan, on the high desert plain

Kandahar

— — the city the pomegranates remember.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Kandahar sits on a plain where the Tarnak River runs thin and the desert begins. Founded by Alexander, ruled in turn by Mauryan, Mughal, and Durrani hands, the city carries its long history in low walls of dried mud and in orchards of pomegranate and grape. The shrine at the centre still draws the morning. There are afternoons when the dust settles and the call to prayer holds the whole valley.

from the studio
Kandahar
— bring it home

Kandahar, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Kandahar

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Kandahar is the second-largest city in Afghanistan and the capital of Kandahar Province, on a plain at roughly 1,010 metres along the Tarnak River. It was founded in the fourth century BC as Alexandria in Arachosia, one of the cities Alexander the Great seeded across his eastern frontier. Trade routes across the Registan Desert and the passes into Balochistan have kept it on every map of southern Asia since. Ahmad Shah Durrani made it the capital of the new Afghan state in 1747.

— the stone

At the heart of the old city stands the Shrine of the Cloak of the Prophet, the Kirka Sharif, said to hold a cloak worn by Muhammad and brought to Kandahar in 1768. Beside it rises the octagonal Mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of modern Afghanistan, who died in 1772 and is buried under a turquoise-tiled dome. The surrounding bazaar district is built of sun-dried mud brick called kahgel, the same material that has been used in this valley for at least three thousand years.

— the season

Kandahar has a hot desert climate. Summer afternoons routinely reach 40 degrees Celsius and the wind from the Registan carries fine dust into every courtyard. Winters are short and mild, with rare frost. The agricultural year turns on the pomegranate and grape harvests that arrive together in October and November — Kandahari pomegranates are considered the best in the country and have been written about by travellers since the Mughal court. The orchards north of the city are at their fullest in the weeks before the harvest begins.

— where
Afghanistan · Kandahar, Kandahar Province
— elevation
1,010 m · 3,314 ft
— position
31.6133° N · 65.7100° E
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Kandahar — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Kandahar is in southern Afghanistan, capital of Kandahar Province, on the Tarnak River at about 1,010 metres. It is the country's second-largest city after Kabul.

The city traces to Alexander the Great's foundation of Alexandria in Arachosia around 330 BC, though earlier settlements on the same plain are far older. It has been continuously inhabited ever since.

The Kirka Sharif holds a cloak said to have been worn by Muhammad. It was brought to Kandahar in 1768 by Ahmad Shah Durrani and remains one of the most venerated sites in Afghanistan.

The orchards around Kandahar produce what travellers since Mughal times have called the finest pomegranates in the region. The harvest falls in October and November and shapes the city's agricultural year.

Ahmad Shah Durrani founded the modern Afghan state in 1747 and made Kandahar its first capital. His octagonal mausoleum, with its turquoise dome, sits beside the Shrine of the Cloak in the old city.

Kandahar has a hot desert climate with summer highs above 40 degrees Celsius and short, mild winters. Dust storms from the Registan are common in late spring and early summer.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for customers with ties to the country. Kandahar is the cultural heart of the Pashtun south, and a Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

The dust-rose and turquoise palette suits earth-toned interiors, Levantine or Mughal-influenced rooms, and warm minimalist spaces that already lean toward terracotta, brass, and unbleached linen.

It reads well in the current Old-World and Mughal-revival direction, and in spice-toned palettes drawing on Central Asian textiles. It also sits comfortably in collected, library-style interiors.

Above a standard sofa or console, a single Large reads as a focal point. For a wider wall a 4-tile Mural carries the composition across the full span, and a 9-tile Mural becomes the wall itself.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any vertical install near steam or water. Both are scratch-resistant and hold up to daily wiping without loss of colour.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and lives in the surface itself, so it cannot be wiped off.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing in or out — Reid Wender curates the atlas, and the work is hand-finished in-house.

— if this one stayed with you

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