Wender·Vista
Hoba meteorite
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNamibia
on a farm outside Grootfontein, in northern Namibia

Hoba meteorite

— — sixty tonnes of iron, where it landed.

— 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 largest single piece of iron known to have arrived from space. About sixty tonnes of nickel-iron, lying flat on a Kalahari farm called Hoba West, near Grootfontein. A farmer struck it while ploughing in 1920. Nobody has moved it because nobody can. The crater is long gone; the surrounding ground absorbed the fall about eighty thousand years ago.

from the studio
Hoba meteorite
— bring it home

Hoba meteorite, 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 Hoba meteorite

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 Hoba meteorite lies on the former farm Hoba West, about 19 kilometres west of Grootfontein in Otjozondjupa Region, northern Namibia. The Otavi Mountains rise to the southwest; Etosha National Park is 300 kilometres further west. The site sits at roughly 1,400 metres elevation on the southern edge of the Kalahari Basin. The Namibian government declared it a national monument in 1955, and the small open-air visitor area is reached by gravel road from the B8 highway between Tsumeb and Grootfontein.

— the stone

The meteorite weighs an estimated 60 tonnes and measures roughly 2.95 by 2.84 by 1.22 metres, making it the largest single intact meteorite known on Earth. Its composition is about 84 percent iron and 16 percent nickel, with traces of cobalt and germanium, classifying it as an ataxite. The flat tabular shape, unusual for iron meteorites, may explain why it slowed enough on entry to land intact and dig no surviving crater. Cosmogenic isotope work places the fall at roughly 80,000 years ago.

— the silence

The meteorite has never been moved; its mass and brittleness make excavation impractical. Before the 1955 monument designation, souvenir-hunters chipped away an estimated six tonnes, reducing the original mass from a probable 66 tonnes to today's roughly 60. A low stone amphitheatre, built in the 1980s by descendants of the discoverer Jacobus Hermanus Brits, now circles the slab. Most days draw fewer than thirty visitors. The nearest lodge sits in Grootfontein, 23 kilometres east on the B8.

— where
Namibia · Otjozondjupa, Namibia
— elevation
1,400 m · 4,593 ft
— position
-19.5919° S · 17.9333° 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.
23 km E
Grootfontein
town
60 km NW
Tsumeb
mining town
300 km W
Etosha National Park
national park
80 km SW
Otavi Mountains
range
N
Hoba meteorite
Grootfontein
Tsumeb
Etosha National Park
Otavi Mountains
— common questions

What people ask.

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

On the former farm Hoba West, about 19 kilometres west of Grootfontein in northern Namibia. The site sits in Otjozondjupa Region at roughly 1,400 metres elevation, reached by gravel road from the B8 highway.

About 60 tonnes, measuring roughly 2.95 by 2.84 by 1.22 metres. It is the largest single intact meteorite known on Earth and the largest naturally occurring piece of iron found at its surface.

Cosmogenic isotope analysis places the fall at roughly 80,000 years ago. The flat tabular shape may have slowed atmospheric entry enough to leave no surviving impact crater.

The Namibian farmer Jacobus Hermanus Brits struck it with a plough in 1920 while clearing the field. The Brits family still owns the surrounding land and helped build the visitor enclosure in the 1980s.

About 84 percent iron and 16 percent nickel, with trace cobalt and germanium. The composition and rare ataxite microstructure place it among the unusual nickel-rich iron meteorites.

Yes. A small open-air site with a low stone amphitheatre is open daily for a modest entry fee. Grootfontein lodges sit 23 kilometres east; Tsumeb is 60 kilometres northwest on the B8 highway.

— about the piece in your home

Many of our customers with ties to amateur astronomy or planetary science have ordered a Hoba piece. The subject reads instantly to anyone who has tracked meteorite news. A Small or Keepsake works well as a desk piece.

The iron-and-savanna palette suits Industrial, Mid-century, and warm Minimalist rooms. Walls in charcoal, deep ochre, or warm grey hold the tile's metallic colour without fighting it.

Conversation pieces with a scientific anchor have grown in office and study spaces since the early 2020s. The Hoba slab reads as the rare subject nobody on the call has seen before.

A single Large covers most console runs. Above a sofa, a four-tile Mural reads at full scale; a nine-tile Mural fills a longer wall. The Medium suits a desk shelf or library wall.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room with steam or splash. Both resist scratching and clean with a soft cloth and water.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. Skip ammonia, bleach, and abrasives. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and stays put under a thin glossy finish.

Yes. Reid Wender paints every WenderVista vista in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. No licensing, no third-party catalogue.

— if this one stayed with you

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