shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIndia

in the Punjab foothills, where the plain meets the Shivaliks

Pathankot

— — the last flat ground before the hills.

— 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

“Where the Punjab plain ends and the Shivalik foothills begin. The town is a junction – rail lines split here for Jammu, for the Kangra Valley, for Dalhousie – and the highway tilts upward a few kilometres past the cantonment. The Chakki River runs out of the hills behind it, and the Ravi marks the western edge of the district.

from the studio

— bring it home

Pathankot, 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 Pathankot

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

Pathankot sits in the northwest corner of Punjab at the foot of the Shivalik range, roughly 332 metres above sea level and within an hour's drive of the borders of both Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The Chakki and Ravi rivers run nearby, draining the lower Himalayan slopes onto the Punjab plain. With a population of around 150,000, the city is one of India's important rail and road junctions, and the closest mainline station to Dalhousie, Dharamshala, and the Kangra Valley.

— informed by Wikipedia – Pathankot

— the stone

Nurpur Fort, about 25 kilometres east in Himachal Pradesh, was built in the eleventh century and held by the Pathania Rajputs into the colonial era. The 1905 Kangra earthquake brought down much of its outer walls; the inner temple to Brij Raj Swami, with its joint idols of Krishna and Meera Bai, still stands. Closer in, the Mukteshwar and Kathgarh temples on the Beas trace lines back through Pandava-era legend and a long Shaivite tradition.

— informed by Wikipedia – Nurpur Fort

— the visit

The city is best understood as the threshold to the Himachal hill stations. The Kangra Valley narrow-gauge line, opened in 1929 and on UNESCO's tentative list, runs 164 kilometres from Pathankot to Jogindernagar through hundreds of bridges and culverts. Road traffic for Dalhousie climbs from the cantonment in about ninety minutes; Dharamshala is a four-hour drive. Pathankot Junction itself handles trains from Delhi, Mumbai, and Jammu, and the cantonment remains an active army and air force station.

— informed by Wikipedia – Kangra Valley Railway

— where

India · Pathankot district, Punjab

— elevation

332 m · 1,089 ft

— position

32.2746° N · 75.6521° 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.

25 km E

Nurpur Fort

fort

80 km NE

Dalhousie

hill station

90 km E

Dharamshala

hill station

18 km SE

Kathgarh Temple

temple

8 km W

Ravi River

river

100 km NW

Jammu

city

Pathankot

Nurpur Fort

Dalhousie

Dharamshala

Kathgarh Temple

Ravi River

Jammu

— common questions

What people ask.

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

— about the place

Pathankot lies in the northwestern corner of Punjab, India, at the foot of the Shivalik range and within an hour of the borders of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Three states meet near Pathankot, and the rail lines split here: one branch climbs to Jammu, another follows the Kangra Valley toward Dharamshala, and the trunk line returns to Delhi.

A narrow-gauge mountain line opened in 1929, running 164 kilometres from Pathankot to Jogindernagar across hundreds of bridges. It is on UNESCO's tentative list of World Heritage sites.

The Ravi forms part of the district's western boundary with Pakistan, and the Chakki drains the Shivalik foothills past the city before joining the Beas to the south.

A hill fortress about 25 kilometres east, built in the eleventh century by the Pathania Rajputs. Most of its outer walls fell in the 1905 Kangra earthquake; the inner Brij Raj Swami temple still stands.

The city sits at about 332 metres above sea level, the last roughly flat ground before the Shivalik foothills begin their climb toward Dalhousie and the Dhauladhar range.

— about the piece in your home

For someone with roots in the cantonment, the railway, or the Kangra line, the piece reads as the home threshold. A Small or Medium with a studio note travels well.

The greens and amber light of the Shivalik foothills settle into warm-earth Minimalist, Indian-modern, and Mountain-modern rooms. It carries well against natural wood and unpainted plaster.

A single Large fits most sofas. For a wider wall, a four-tile Mural extends the foothill horizon. For a long console, a nine-tile Mural reads as a slow panorama.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splash. The Glossy finish is reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A microfibre cloth and water. Nothing else. No solvents, no abrasives, no glass cleaner. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and does not need polishing.

Yes. Every piece is curated by Reid Wender and finished in our Knoxville studio. The visual language is ours alone, with no outside licensing.

— if this one stayed with you