Wender·Vista
Liffey
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIreland
through the centre of Dublin, down from the Wicklow hills

Liffey

— — the river the city was built to face.

— 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 river runs about 132 kilometres from a bog on Kippure in the Wicklow Mountains, looping west and north before cutting east through Dublin to the sea. Twenty-four bridges cross it inside the city; the cast-iron pedestrian arch the locals still call the Ha'penny is the one in the photograph. The water is dark and tidal at the quays, gulls on the parapets, the granite walls warm in the afternoon. from the studio

from the studio
Liffey
— bring it home

Liffey, 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 Liffey

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

The Liffey is the principal river of Dublin, running about 132 kilometres from a source on the slopes of Kippure in the Wicklow Mountains to the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay. It traces a long arc southwest, west, and north through County Kildare before turning east to enter the city. Within Dublin the river is crossed by twenty-four bridges and lined by the Georgian quays laid out in the eighteenth century. Two reservoirs at Poulaphouca and Leixlip supply much of the city's drinking water and generate hydroelectricity.

— informed by Wikipedia: River Liffey
— the stone

The Liffey is a river of bridges. The Ha'penny Bridge, opened in 1816 and officially the Liffey Bridge, is a cast-iron pedestrian arch with a 43-metre span, named for the toll once charged to cross. Downstream the Custom House by James Gandon, finished in 1791, holds the north quay; upstream the Four Courts, also Gandon, anchors the south. The Samuel Beckett Bridge by Santiago Calatrava, opened in 2009, takes the shape of a harp turned on its side. Granite quay walls line most of the central reach.

— the year

The river has carried the city's literature for two centuries. James Joyce gave the Liffey its second name as Anna Livia Plurabelle in Finnegans Wake, published in 1939, and the river runs through the closing pages of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The Liffey Swim, a 2.2-kilometre race held each September since 1920, draws a few hundred swimmers down the central reach from Watling Bridge to the Custom House. Jack B. Yeats's 1923 painting of the swim hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.

— informed by Wikipedia: Liffey Swim
— where
Ireland · Dublin, County Dublin
— position
53.3467° N · 6.2587° W
— 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.
at the lake
Ha'penny Bridge
pedestrian bridge
6 km E
Dublin Bay
bay
N
Liffey
Ha'penny Bridge
Dublin Bay
— common questions

What people ask.

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

The river rises on the slopes of Kippure, a 757-metre mountain in the Wicklow range about 25 kilometres south of Dublin. It runs roughly 132 kilometres in a long arc before entering the sea at Dublin Bay.

Twenty-four bridges cross the river within the city, ranging from eighteenth-century stone arches to the Samuel Beckett Bridge by Santiago Calatrava, opened in 2009 in the shape of a harp turned on its side.

A cast-iron pedestrian arch over the Liffey, opened in 1816 and officially called the Liffey Bridge. It earned its nickname from the half-penny toll once charged to cross, lifted in 1919.

In Finnegans Wake, published in 1939, Joyce personified the Liffey as Anna Livia Plurabelle, the wife and mother figure whose voice closes the book. The name draws on the Irish Abhainn na Life.

An open-water race held each September since 1920, running about 2.2 kilometres down the central reach of the river from Watling Bridge to the Custom House. Jack B. Yeats painted the swim in 1923.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for customers with Dublin roots and for readers of Joyce and Yeats. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries the river and the city well.

The granite-and-water palette sits well in Georgian-revival rooms, modern Irish interiors, and slate-and-linen studies. It reads well beside dark green walls, oak panelling, and warm brass.

Above a standard sofa or console, a single Large reads cleanly as a focal piece. A 4-tile Mural anchors a longer wall, and a 9-tile Mural carries a full feature wall in a library or entry.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both handle steam and splash and resist scratching. The Glossy finish is best kept to dry rooms and framed wall display.

A soft microfibre cloth and water is all the surface needs. The colour lives inside the ceramic itself, so the cleaning never touches the image directly.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. The atlas of places is curated by Reid Wender and finished in-house, with no outside licensing.

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