shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileFrance

on the Left Bank, facing Notre-Dame across the Seine

Shakespeare and Company

Name: Shakespeare and Company — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — a bookshop that still keeps a bed for the night.

— 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

“A narrow green storefront at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, with Notre-Dame across the water. George Whitman opened the shop in 1951 and renamed it for Sylvia Beach's original a decade later. Travelling writers still sleep among the stacks in exchange for a few hours of work and a page written about themselves. The bell over the door has not changed. — from the studio

from the studio

— bring it home

Shakespeare and Company, 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 Shakespeare and Company

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

Shakespeare and Company sits at 37 rue de la Bûcherie in the 5th arrondissement, directly across the Seine from the south flank of Notre-Dame de Paris. The American expatriate George Whitman opened the shop in 1951 in a former monastery building, originally under the name Le Mistral, and renamed it Shakespeare and Company in 1964 in tribute to Sylvia Beach's earlier bookshop, which had operated on rue de l'Odéon from 1919 to 1941 and first published James Joyce's Ulysses.

— informed by Wikipedia

— the visit

The shop is open daily, with a small café next door added in 2015. Entry is free and browsing is encouraged. Upstairs, a reading library holds books that cannot be bought, alongside cot-like beds where writers and travellers (called Tumbleweeds by George Whitman) have slept since 1951 in exchange for a few hours of work and a one-page autobiography for the archive. Lines along rue de la Bûcherie are common in summer afternoons.

— informed by Shakespeare and Company

— the year

Sylvia Whitman, George's daughter, has run the shop since 2006 and now hosts the annual Paris Literary Prize and the FestivalandCo literary weekend. The Tumbleweed programme has hosted an estimated 30,000 writers since 1951, including many who arrived unknown and returned later as guests of honour. The handwritten one-page autobiographies left by each Tumbleweed are kept upstairs in cardboard boxes.

— informed by Shakespeare and Company history

— where

France · 5th arrondissement, Paris

— position

48.8527° N · 2.3472° 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.

at the lake

Notre-Dame de Paris

cathedral

1 km NW

Sainte-Chapelle

chapel

1 km S

Panthéon

mausoleum

1 km SW

Jardin du Luxembourg

garden

Shakespeare and Company

Notre-Dame de Paris

Sainte-Chapelle

Panthéon

Jardin du Luxembourg

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Shakespeare and Company — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

The shop stands at 37 rue de la Bûcherie in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, directly across the Seine from Notre-Dame de Paris. The nearest Métro is Saint-Michel on Line 4.

No. Sylvia Beach's original Shakespeare and Company operated on rue de l'Odéon from 1919 until German occupation forced its closure in 1941. George Whitman's shop, opened in 1951, took the name in 1964 in tribute.

Sylvia Whitman, daughter of founder George Whitman, has run the shop since 2006. She is named after Sylvia Beach. Her father lived above the shop until his death in 2011 at age 98.

A Tumbleweed is a writer or traveller who sleeps in the shop in exchange for a few hours of work and a one-page autobiography. George Whitman began the practice in 1951 and an estimated 30,000 have stayed.

Sylvia Beach's earlier shop did, in 1922. The current Shakespeare and Company is a successor in name and spirit, opened by George Whitman three decades after the original published Joyce's novel.

The bookshop opens daily, generally from late morning to late evening. The adjacent café, opened in 2015, keeps similar hours. Hours can shift for events; the shop's website lists the current schedule.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for readers who spent a season in Paris. The shop is a touchstone for anyone who studied at the Sorbonne or wrote a thesis at a café on the Left Bank. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio is the usual choice.

The deep greens, warm wood, and stained-glass colour fit a Library-Eclectic study, an English-Cottage reading nook, or a Parisian-Classic living room. It sits comfortably above a leather chair or a writing desk.

Yes. The Library-Eclectic and Dark-Academia palettes both lean on book-spine greens, oxblood, and warm brass, all of which the Shakespeare and Company piece carries. It anchors a wall of shelves.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads from across the room. Over a long console or a writing desk, a 4-tile Mural fills the wall without crowding. A 9-tile Mural suits a tall library wall.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand up to humidity, which makes them safe for a powder room or a kitchen wall. Glossy is best kept to drier rooms.

A microfibre cloth and water. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so it cannot fade with cleaning. No solvents and no abrasive pads.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio, hand-finished in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing and no third-party printing.

— if this one stayed with you