shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileAustralia

the summit of Big Ben, on sub-Antarctic Heard Island

Mawson Peak

Name: Mawson Peak — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — a volcano nobody is watching tonight.

— 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

— 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

“The highest point in any Australian territory rises 2,745 metres out of the southern Indian Ocean, on a glaciated, uninhabited island roughly 4,100 kilometres southwest of Perth. Mawson Peak is the active summit vent of Big Ben, the stratovolcano that is Heard Island. It last erupted in 2016. The island and its smaller neighbour are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, closed to general visitors.

from the studio

— bring it home

Mawson Peak, 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 Mawson Peak

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

Mawson Peak is the summit of Big Ben, the active stratovolcano that forms most of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. At 2,745 metres it is the highest point in any Australian territory, higher than mainland Australia's Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 metres. Heard Island and the nearby McDonald Islands form an Australian external territory roughly 4,100 kilometres southwest of Perth and 1,700 kilometres north of Antarctica. The combined Heard Island and McDonald Islands group was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, recognised as one of the few largely undisturbed sub-Antarctic ecosystems.

— informed by UNESCO — Heard and McDonald Islands

— the silence

Heard Island has no permanent population, no airstrip, and no harbour. The Australian Antarctic Division mounts occasional research voyages from Hobart, a passage of around two weeks each way through some of the most consistently rough water in the world; the latitudes near 50°S south of the Indian Ocean are known to mariners as the Furious Fifties. The island's only structures are a few weather-damaged huts at Atlas Cove from the 1947 ANARE station, long abandoned. The closest inhabited land is the French Kerguelen Islands, about 450 kilometres to the northwest.

— informed by Wikipedia — Heard Island and McDonald Islands

— the visit

Access to Heard Island is controlled under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and requires a permit from the Australian Antarctic Division. There is no tourism programme; permits are granted almost exclusively for scientific research. The first ascent of Mawson Peak was made in January 1965 by a four-person team from the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE). Eruptions of Big Ben have been observed remotely by satellite at intervals through the 2000s, with the most recent confirmed activity in 2016. The summit area shows persistent thermal anomalies.

— informed by Wikipedia — Big Ben (volcano)

— where

Australia · Australian external territory (HIMI)

— within

Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve

— elevation

2,745 m · 9,006 ft

— position

-53.1060° S · 73.5130° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

44 km W

McDonald Islands

uninhabited volcanic islands

18 km NW

Atlas Cove

abandoned ANARE station site

450 km NW

Kerguelen Islands

French sub-Antarctic territory

Mawson Peak

McDonald Islands

Atlas Cove

Kerguelen Islands

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Mawson Peak — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

On Heard Island, an uninhabited Australian external territory in the southern Indian Ocean, about 4,100 kilometres southwest of Perth and 1,700 kilometres north of Antarctica. It is the summit of an active volcano called Big Ben.

The summit reaches 2,745 metres, making it the highest point in any Australian territory, higher than mainland Australia's Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 metres.

Yes. Big Ben is an active stratovolcano with eruptions confirmed by satellite at intervals through the 2000s. The most recent observed activity was in 2016. The summit area shows persistent thermal anomalies.

Not as a tourist. Access requires a permit from the Australian Antarctic Division under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Permits are granted almost exclusively for scientific research.

The first ascent was made in January 1965 by a four-person team from the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE). The climb is rated technically demanding and rarely repeated; only a handful of ascents have been recorded since.

UNESCO inscribed the Heard Island and McDonald Islands group in 1997 as one of the few sub-Antarctic ecosystems essentially undisturbed by human activity, with active volcanism, glaciers, and unaltered seal and seabird colonies.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Mawson Peak is on the short list of places most travellers will never reach. For a polar scientist, a former ANARE expeditioner, or anyone drawn to the sub-Antarctic, a Small or Medium reads as a piece of a place few have stood on.

The glacier whites, basalt blacks, and steel-blues sit well in Mountain-modern, Scandinavian Minimalist, and cool-toned Maximalist rooms. It also works against a deep navy or charcoal feature wall in a study or library.

A single Large works above a console or in a hallway. A four-tile Mural carries the full volcanic cone at sofa scale; a nine-tile Mural reads as a single composed piece across wider walls.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both handle humidity and clean easily. The Glossy finish is best for dry rooms: entryways, libraries, framed wall pieces.

A microfibre cloth and water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and doesn't lift. Skip ammonia and abrasive cleaners.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated by Reid Wender and made in our single Knoxville studio in Tennessee. No licensing, no outside vendors.

— if this one stayed with you