Wender·Vista
Sanandaj
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIran
in the Zagros highlands of Iranian Kurdistan

Sanandaj

— — a city the daf drum keeps time for.

— 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 capital of Kurdistan Province in western Iran, set in a bowl of the Zagros Mountains about 1,500 metres up. Founded in 1636 by Soleyman Khan Ardalan as the seat of the Ardalan principality, the old city holds the Khosro Abad mansion and the Asef Vaziri house, both now small museums of Kurdish life. Sanandaj is the city the daf, a wide frame drum used in Sufi ceremony, calls home. UNESCO named it a City of Music in 2019. The bazaar still keeps its old gates, and snow holds the rooftops for a few weeks every winter.

from the studio
Sanandaj
— bring it home

Sanandaj, 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 Sanandaj

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

Sanandaj is the capital of Kurdistan Province in western Iran and the largest Kurdish-majority city in the country. It sits at about 1,538 metres in a bowl of the Zagros Mountains, roughly 400 kilometres west of Tehran. The city was founded in 1636 by Soleyman Khan Ardalan, the Kurdish governor of the Ardalan principality, who moved the seat from nearby Hasanabad. Its historic core preserves the Khosro Abad mansion, built in the late 18th century as a residence of the Ardalan family, and the Asef Vaziri house, now the Kurdish House Museum. The population is roughly 500,000, almost entirely Kurdish, with Sunni Islam as the dominant religion.

— the year

UNESCO named Sanandaj a Creative City of Music in 2019, recognising its role as the home of the daf, a single-headed frame drum used in Kurdish Sufi ceremony and in classical Persian music. The city's musicians are credited with carrying the daf from the takyeh, the Sufi prayer hall, into concert use through the mid-20th century. Nowruz, the Persian new year on the spring equinox, draws Kurdish families back to the city for several days of music and dance, with circle dances led to daf and tanbour. The snowfall of January and February gives the surrounding villages a second short tourist season.

— the stone

The Khosro Abad mansion, the Asef Vaziri house, and the Salar Saeed house anchor the old quarter and share a common Kurdish vernacular: brick masonry on a stone foundation, deep porches called eyvans facing an inner courtyard, and stucco lattice in geometric Kurdish patterns. The Asef Vaziri compound was built in the late 18th century by the Vaziri family, served as a private residence into the 20th century, and reopened in 2007 as the Kurdish House Museum with rooms set as a noble household around 1900. The bazaar, founded in the 17th century, still keeps its stone arches and timber roof beams along the main run.

— where
Iran · Sanandaj County, Kurdistan
— elevation
1,538 m · 5,046 ft
— position
35.3144° N · 46.9923° 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 S
Khosro Abad Mansion
Ardalan-era residence
1 km N
Asef Vaziri House
Kurdish House Museum
4 km W
Abidar Mountain
city overlook
130 km W
Zarivar Lake
freshwater lake
N
Sanandaj
Khosro Abad Mansion
Asef Vaziri House
Abidar Mountain
Zarivar Lake
— common questions

What people ask.

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

In the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, at about 1,538 metres of elevation. It is the capital of Kurdistan Province and the largest Kurdish-majority city in Iran, roughly 400 kilometres west of Tehran.

UNESCO named Sanandaj a Creative City of Music in 2019, recognising its role as the home of the daf, a frame drum central to Kurdish Sufi ceremony and Persian classical music.

Soleyman Khan Ardalan, Kurdish governor of the Ardalan principality, founded Sanandaj in 1636 as a new seat for his court, moving from the older town of Hasanabad nearby.

A late 18th-century residence of the Ardalan ruling family in central Sanandaj. The complex preserves brick masonry, deep eyvan porches, and stucco lattice in geometric Kurdish patterns typical of the period.

Sorani Kurdish is the everyday language of the city, alongside Persian, which is taught in school and used for government business. The dialect is part of a continuum that crosses the Iraqi border.

A single-headed frame drum about 50 centimetres across, ringed inside with metal rings that hiss against the head. It is central to Kurdish Sufi ceremony and was carried into Persian classical music by Sanandaji players.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for customers giving to friends and family with ties to Iranian Kurdistan and the wider Kurdish diaspora. Sanandaj holds a place in Kurdish music that most Kurds know. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio sits well on a sideboard.

The earth-and-jewel palette anchors Old-World Eclectic, Library, and Persianate Maximalist rooms. It also lifts a quiet Minimalist scheme where one richly coloured piece carries a neutral wall.

Yes. The current global-eclectic moment leans toward Persian, Anatolian, and Central Asian motifs. A single Medium of Sanandaj over a console reads as collected rather than themed.

Above a console the single Large tile is the usual choice. Above a standard sofa, step up to a 4-tile Mural; above a long sectional, a 9-tile Mural in a 3x3 grid.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour lives in the ceramic surface itself, so steam and splash do not lift it. Glossy is best kept to dry walls and framed display.

A microfibre cloth, slightly damp with water. No abrasive sponges, no ammonia, no glass cleaner. The thin glossy layer wipes clear and the surface returns to its full colour within seconds.

Yes. Reid Wender paints the WenderVista atlas in a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no third-party imagery. Each tile is hand-finished before it leaves the studio.

— 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.