Wender·Vista
Vadodara
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIndia
on the Vishwamitri, in central Gujarat

Vadodara

— — a court city still wearing its court dress.

— 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 third city of Gujarat, on the slow Vishwamitri, still answering to its older name Baroda. The Gaekwads made it a court city, and the court ran on music, painting, and the long Sanskrit afternoon. The Laxmi Vilas Palace sits low in its grounds, four times the footprint of Buckingham, by some measures the largest private home in India. The light is dry, and the courtyards remember the dancers.

from the studio
Vadodara
— bring it home

Vadodara, 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 Vadodara

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

Vadodara sits on the Vishwamitri river in central Gujarat, about 110 kilometres southeast of Ahmedabad. With a metropolitan population near 2.2 million it is the state's third-largest city, and was the seat of the Gaekwad rulers of the princely Baroda State until accession to India in 1949. Maharaja Sayajirao III, who ruled from 1875 to 1939, made it a centre of education and the arts, founding the institution that became Maharaja Sayajirao University. The Gujarati name Vadodara was made official in 1974; the English Baroda is still heard in everyday use.

— the stone

The Laxmi Vilas Palace, completed in 1890 for Sayajirao III, remains the residence of the Gaekwad family and is often described as the largest private home in India, four times the footprint of Buckingham Palace. The English architect Major Charles Mant designed it in the Indo-Saracenic manner, blending Mughal arches, Rajput jharokhas, and European interiors across twelve years of construction. The grounds hold the Navlakhi stepwell, a small zoo, and the Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum, which keeps Raja Ravi Varma canvases the dynasty commissioned in the late nineteenth century.

— the year

Vadodara's Navratri is among the largest garba gatherings in India. For nine nights each autumn, on a date set by the lunar calendar in September or October, the University Ground and the United Way grounds fill with concentric rings of dancers in chaniya choli, moving to live dhol and harmonium past midnight. The city's older self-description, Sanskari Nagari, the cultured city, is felt most clearly in this week, when the court tradition of the Gaekwads opens to the open street.

— informed by Wikipedia: Navratri
— where
India · Vadodara, Gujarat
— elevation
39 m · 128 ft
— position
22.3072° N · 73.1812° 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.
1 km NW
Sayaji Baug
public garden
1 km S
Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum
art museum
3 km N
Kirti Mandir
Gaekwad memorial
50 km E
Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park
UNESCO site
N
Vadodara
Sayaji Baug
Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum
Kirti Mandir
Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Both. Vadodara is the official Gujarati name, made standard in 1974; Baroda is the older anglicised form and remains in common English use on signage, college names, and older maps.

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III commissioned it. The English architect Major Charles Mant designed it in the Indo-Saracenic style, and it was completed in 1890. The Gaekwad family still lives in the residence.

A nine-night autumn festival of garba, the Gujarati circle dance. Vadodara hosts among the largest gatherings in India, with thousands of dancers at the University Ground and the United Way grounds.

In central Gujarat, on the Vishwamitri river, about 110 kilometres southeast of Ahmedabad and 420 kilometres north of Mumbai. It is the third-largest city in the state after Ahmedabad and Surat.

A public university founded in 1949 from the older Baroda College, which Sayajirao III had established in 1881. Its faculty of fine arts is among the most influential in modern Indian art.

A Maratha dynasty that ruled the Baroda State from the 1720s until India's independence. Their court was a major patron of Hindustani music, painting, and Sanskrit scholarship in the nineteenth century.

— about the piece in your home

It has been for many of our customers. The palace silhouette and the Vishwamitri light read immediately to anyone who grew up in the city. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note travels well.

The deep alcohol-ink colour and stained-glass linework sit well with Indo-modern, jewel-tone maximalist, and warm minimalist rooms. The piece holds its own against teak furniture, brass, and unbleached cotton.

Indo-modern has steadied as a category over the last few years, leaning on heritage architecture, hand-block textile, and saturated colour. The tile reads in that conversation without leaning kitsch or souvenir.

A single Large reads cleanly above a console. Over a standard sofa, a 4-tile Mural lands well. For a long wall, the 9-tile Mural gives the palace its full breath.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and hold up to humidity. The Glossy finish is reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A microfibre cloth and warm water. No abrasives, no ammonia glass cleaner. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so the surface itself is easy to keep.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is drawn and finished in our Knoxville studio, in a single visual language we have developed over years. There is no licensing and no third-party stock.

— if this one stayed with you

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