Wender·Vista
Kakinada
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIndia
on the Bay of Bengal, the Coromandel Coast

Kakinada

— — the harbour the long island makes.

— 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

“Kakinada sits on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh, on the Bay of Bengal, sheltered by the long curve of Hope Island. The natural deep-water anchorage made it first a Dutch and then a British trading port; the old British cemetery still stands near the seafront. Inland, the Godavari delta begins. The mangroves of the Coringa Sanctuary lie just to the south, dense enough to need a boat.

from the studio
Kakinada
— bring it home

Kakinada, 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 Kakinada

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

Kakinada is a port city on the east coast of India's Andhra Pradesh state, on the Bay of Bengal at the northern edge of the Godavari River delta. Its population is roughly 400,000. Hope Island, a low sandy spit that arcs across the entrance to Kakinada Bay, gives the port one of the few naturally sheltered anchorages on the otherwise straight Coromandel Coast. The town served as a Dutch trading station in the seventeenth century and later as a British East India Company port through the nineteenth.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the water

The Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, about 18 km south of the city, protects roughly 235 square kilometres of mangrove forest at the mouth of the Godavari — the second-largest mangrove ecosystem in India after the Sundarbans. The estuary supports saltwater crocodiles, fishing cats, and one of the country's largest populations of smooth-coated otters. Local boatmen run dawn trips through the back channels from the village of Coringa, where the mangrove canopy closes overhead within minutes of leaving open water.

— the visit

Kakinada is reached by road and rail from Visakhapatnam, about 150 km north, or from Rajahmundry, 65 km west on the main Howrah-Chennai line. The town is known across Andhra Pradesh for the kakinada kaja, a layered sweet pastry soaked in sugar syrup that the Kotaiah Chetty family shop on Main Road has been making since the 1890s. The seafront promenade and the old British cemetery on Cemetery Road both sit within walking distance of the city centre.

— where
India · Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh
— position
16.9891° N · 82.2475° 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.
10 km E
Hope Island
sand spit sheltering the bay
18 km S
Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary
mangrove estuary
2 km E
Kakinada Beach
city beach
65 km W
Rajahmundry
Godavari river city
60 km S
Antarvedi
delta pilgrimage village
N
Kakinada
Hope Island
Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary
Kakinada Beach
Rajahmundry
Antarvedi
— common questions

What people ask.

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

On the east coast of India, in Andhra Pradesh state, on the Bay of Bengal at the northern edge of the Godavari River delta. The city sits about 150 km south of Visakhapatnam and 65 km east of Rajahmundry.

Hope Island, a long sandy spit that arcs across the mouth of Kakinada Bay, blocks the open Bay of Bengal swell. The result is one of the few naturally sheltered deep-water anchorages on the otherwise straight Coromandel Coast.

A protected mangrove forest at the mouth of the Godavari, about 18 km south of Kakinada. It covers roughly 235 square kilometres and is the second-largest mangrove ecosystem in India after the Sundarbans of West Bengal.

Three things: a deep-water port, the Coringa mangroves, and the kakinada kaja — a layered sweet pastry soaked in sugar syrup, made at the Kotaiah Chetty shop on Main Road since the 1890s and now sold across coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Yes. The Dutch established a trading station in the seventeenth century, and the British East India Company took it over in the late eighteenth. The old British cemetery near the seafront and several colonial-era buildings on Cemetery Road still survive.

By road and rail from Visakhapatnam, 150 km north, or from Rajahmundry, 65 km west on the Howrah-Chennai main line. The nearest airport is Rajahmundry, with daily flights from Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for our customers with roots in coastal Andhra. Kakinada, Rajahmundry, and the Godavari delta share a geography that the piece reads as. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note tends to land.

The piece sits well with warm coastal, Indo-modern, and quiet-tropical interiors. The mangrove green and bay-light palette pairs naturally with teak, brass, woven cane, and unbleached cotton.

Yes. The current direction in Indo-modern leans toward regional geography over generic motif — the river you grew up near, the coast your family came from. The Kakinada piece sits inside that direction.

A single Large above a console; a 4-tile Mural above a standard sofa; a 9-tile Mural above a long sectional or king bed. Step up one size if the ceiling rises above nine feet.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and humidity-stable, intended for backsplashes, showers, and other vertical installations in wet rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, not on top of it, so it cleans like a tile.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing and no third-party catalogue; Reid curates, the studio finishes each piece by hand.

— 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.