Wender·Vista
Toulon
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileFrance
on the Provence coast, under Mont Faron

Toulon

— — the harbour the navy has held for four hundred years.

— 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

“The deepest natural roadstead on the French Mediterranean, ringed by limestone ridges and held by the French Navy since 1631. Grey hulls ride at anchor in the Petite Rade; the old town climbs behind in ochre and shutter-blue, the cable car to Mont Faron rising 584 metres above the quay. The light here is harder than Nice, more honest than Saint-Tropez. from the studio

from the studio
Toulon
— bring it home

Toulon, 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 Toulon

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

Toulon is the préfecture of the Var department in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, on the Mediterranean coast about 65 kilometres east of Marseille. The city of roughly 175,000 wraps a double natural harbour, the Petite and Grande Rades, separated by the long breakwater of the Mourillon. Behind it rises Mont Faron, a limestone ridge of 584 metres. Toulon has been the principal home port of the French Navy's Mediterranean fleet since Cardinal Richelieu's reforms of 1631, and the naval arsenal still occupies most of the inner harbour.

— informed by Wikipedia — Toulon
— the water

The Rade de Toulon is the deepest sheltered roadstead on the French Mediterranean, scooped by tectonics rather than river deposit, with depths over 20 metres close inshore. The water reads navy-dark in the deep channel and stone-green over the limestone shelves at the Mourillon beaches. Easterly winds funnel down the Faron massif and pile short steep chop into the Petite Rade — the same conditions Napoleon exploited in the 1793 siege that first made his name. Today aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is based here when not at sea.

— the visit

The téléphérique from Super-Toulon climbs to Mont Faron in about six minutes, opening at 09:30 most days outside high wind. Adult fares run around 8€ return. The summit holds the Mémorial du Débarquement, opened in 1964 to mark the 1944 Allied landings in Provence. The old town below — Place Puget, the covered market on Cours Lafayette, the opera house — is best walked early, before the cruise tenders land. The naval museum sits at the harbour gate; check hours, which shift by season.

— informed by Mont Faron cable car
— where
France · Toulon, Var
— elevation
10 m · 33 ft
— position
43.1242° N · 5.9280° 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.
20 km E
Hyères
old Provençal seaside town
65 km W
Marseille
Mediterranean port city
45 km W
Cassis
calanques port
N
Toulon
Hyères
Marseille
Cassis
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Toulon is best known as the main home port of the French Navy's Mediterranean fleet, a role it has held since 1631, and for its deep natural harbour set under the limestone ridge of Mont Faron.

Toulon sits on the Mediterranean coast of Provence, in the Var department, about 65 kilometres east of Marseille and 150 kilometres west of Nice.

Mont Faron rises 584 metres directly behind the city. A cable car from the Super-Toulon district climbs to the summit in about six minutes outside high-wind closures.

The Rade de Toulon is the deepest sheltered roadstead on the French Mediterranean, with depths over 20 metres close inshore. Cardinal Richelieu formalised it as a fleet base in 1631; today the carrier Charles de Gaulle is based here.

The Siege of Toulon ran from August to December 1793, when republican forces retook the city from royalists and a British-Spanish coalition. A young artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte was promoted to brigadier general for his role at the siege.

Late spring and early autumn carry the steadiest light and the calmest harbour water. July and August bring the mistral less often than in the Rhône valley, but the city is busier with naval traffic and ferry crossings to Corsica.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for either. The navy-dark Petite Rade and Mont Faron above it are immediately legible to anyone who has stood on the Quai Cronstadt. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio is the usual choice.

The piece sits cleanly in Coastal-Modern, Maritime-Traditional, and Mediterranean-Stone rooms. The navy-and-ochre palette also holds in a Modern French or Library-Traditional space.

Yes. Coastal-Modern is moving away from pale Hamptons blue toward deeper Mediterranean navy and warm stone — the exact register of this piece. It reads coastal without leaning beach-house literal.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large carries from across the room. For a long wall the 4-tile Mural runs the harbour horizontal. Above a console, a Medium or a 9-tile Mural gives the strongest grid.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any wet or vertical install — backsplash, shower wall, powder room. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so steam and humidity do not affect it.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water is enough for routine cleaning. For kitchens, a mild non-abrasive surface cleaner works. Avoid abrasive pads and bleach.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, under the eye of Reid Wender. There is no licensing and no third-party printer.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.