Ambon Island
— — the spice harbour, after the rain.
Not only on a wall.
“The largest island of central Maluku, ringed by clove and nutmeg country. The Portuguese came for the spice; the Dutch built Fort Victoria on the bay and stayed three centuries. Mornings here belong to the harbour, afternoons to the warm grey rain that comes off the Banda Sea. Ambon city wraps the inner bay and the hills above it climb fast.
Ambon Island, 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.
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.
The place, in three passes.
Ambon Island sits in central Maluku, eastern Indonesia, separated from Seram to the north by a narrow strait. The island covers about 775 square kilometres and splits into two peninsulas, Leitimor and Hitu, joined at a thin isthmus. Ambon city, on the southern shore of Ambon Bay, is the provincial capital, with a metropolitan population near 470,000. The Banda Sea lies to the south, and the islands of the historic spice trade, including Banda Neira, Ternate, and Tidore, sit within a day's sail.
Ambon Bay cuts deep into the island from the south and divides the city in two; ferries cross between Galala and Poka in minutes. The bay has been a working harbour since the Portuguese arrived in 1512. Dutch VOC ships loaded clove here from the late sixteenth century, and Fort Nieuw Victoria, founded in 1605 and rebuilt many times since, still stands on the waterfront. The water is calm in the wet morning and chopped by the afternoon trade wind off the Banda Sea.
Ambon's weather inverts the rest of Indonesia. The wet season runs from May through August, when the southeast monsoon pushes rain across the city for weeks at a time. The dry months fall between October and March, with daily highs near 31 °C and gentler seas. The Pattimura festival in mid-May marks the 1817 rebellion led by Thomas Matulessy, who was born on nearby Saparua and is remembered across the province as one of Indonesia's national heroes.