Wender·Vista
Nouakchott
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMauritania
on the Atlantic edge of the Sahara

Nouakchott

— — a city the desert and the ocean built together.

— 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

“A capital that did not exist a lifetime ago. In 1958 the French chose a small ksar on the Atlantic coast to be the seat of an independent Mauritania. By 1960 the new town held a few thousand people; today it holds more than a million. The pirogues at the Port de Pêche come in painted blue and yellow. The dunes start where the streets end. — from the studio

from the studio
Nouakchott
— bring it home

Nouakchott, 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 Nouakchott

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

Nouakchott lies on the Atlantic coast of Mauritania, on a flat sandy plain only a few metres above sea level. Until 1958 the site held a small ksar of a few hundred people. Selected as the capital of the new republic at independence in 1960, it has grown to host more than a quarter of Mauritania's population, near 1.3 million today. The Sahara presses in from the east, the cold Canary Current cools the shore from the west, and the city sits between.

— the water

The Port de Pêche, a few kilometres north of the centre, is one of the great working beaches of West Africa. Several thousand handpainted wooden pirogues, none more than ten metres long, fish the rich Atlantic upwelling each day. The cold Canary Current pushes nutrient-laden water along the coast, supporting one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world. When the fleet returns in the late afternoon, the catch is auctioned on the sand and carried up by hand.

— the air

Two air masses meet at Nouakchott. The harmattan, a dry continental wind, carries Saharan dust west from the interior; cooler maritime air rides in off the Atlantic. The annual average temperature sits near 25°C, but rainfall barely reaches 100 mm a year, almost all of it in a short summer. Sand drifts at the city's eastern edge are an active concern, and a green belt of planted acacia and prosopis has been maintained since the 1970s as a windbreak.

— where
Mauritania · Nouakchott, Mauritania
— elevation
7 m · 23 ft
— position
18.0735° N · 15.9582° 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.
5 km NW
Port de Pêche
artisanal fishing port
200 km N
Banc d'Arguin
national park and bird sanctuary
270 km S
Saint-Louis, Senegal
coastal city
N
Nouakchott
Port de Pêche
Banc d'Arguin
Saint-Louis, Senegal
— common questions

What people ask.

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

It was designated capital in 1958, as preparations for Mauritanian independence began, and assumed that role formally at independence in 1960. The site had previously held only a small ksar of a few hundred people.

Estimates place the city near 1.3 million people, roughly a quarter of Mauritania's total population. Growth has been driven by Sahel drought migration since the 1970s and by trade through its Atlantic port.

The artisanal fishing port north of the city centre, where several thousand handpainted wooden pirogues land their catch on the beach each afternoon. It is among the largest small-craft fisheries in West Africa.

The cold Canary Current drives a strong upwelling along the West African shelf, bringing nutrient-rich water to the surface. The waters off Mauritania are among the most productive fishing grounds in the world.

Hot desert. The annual mean is near 25°C, the harmattan blows dry from the Sahara much of the year, and rainfall averages under 100 mm, almost all in a short summer.

— about the piece in your home

It reads to anyone who knows the painted pirogues or the dunes east of town. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well to a diaspora home or a returning expatriate.

The sand, sea-blue, and pirogue colours suit warm modern, coastal-modern, and earthy maximalist rooms. The piece also reads against unpainted wood, woven rush, and undyed linen.

A single Large reads on a console or narrow wall. Above a standard sofa, a 4-tile Mural sits at the right scale. A 9-tile Mural is the wide-wall statement.

Yes. Choose Dura Satin or Matte for any steam, splash, or vertical wet-area installation. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and does not fade with normal cleaning.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. No ammonia, no abrasive pads. The thin glossy finish wipes clean and the colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Reid curates the atlas, and the visual language is ours and is not licensed from elsewhere.

— if this one stayed with you

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