— — the city of fine arts.
“The old Newar city of Patan, on the south bank of the Bagmati. A square of red brick and dark carved wood, ringed by temples that have stood since the Malla kings. The metalworkers' lanes still ring at first light. Krishna Mandir, all stone, holds the centre. Pigeons lift off the courtyards in one motion. The 2015 earthquake took down several of the pavilions; the rebuilding is patient, done by the same families who built them the first time. — from the studio
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.
Lalitpur, historically known as Patan, is the third-largest city of Nepal and one of three royal Newar cities of the Kathmandu Valley, along with Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. It lies on the south bank of the Bagmati River at about 1,400 metres above sea level. Patan Durbar Square, the historic heart, has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979 as part of the Kathmandu Valley site. The city has been continuously inhabited for at least seventeen centuries; inscriptions place a settlement here as early as 299 CE under the Licchavi dynasty.
Patan Durbar Square holds the densest concentration of pre-modern architecture in the valley. Krishna Mandir, completed in 1637 under King Siddhi Narsingh Malla, is built entirely of stone in a shikhara style rare in a valley of brick and timber, with carved reliefs of the Mahabharata and Ramayana running its three tiers. The Royal Palace, the Mul Chowk and the Sundari Chowk surround the square in red brick and tiered pagoda roofs. The 2015 Gorkha earthquake collapsed several monuments; reconstruction has used traditional joinery and the same lineage of Newar craft families.
Lalitpur is a 20-minute drive or short taxi ride from central Kathmandu and Tribhuvan International Airport. Patan Durbar Square charges a foreign-visitor fee that funds heritage conservation; a multi-day pass is available. The Patan Museum, housed in the restored Keshav Narayan Chowk, is widely regarded as one of South Asia's finest small museums. October and November are the clearest months, with daytime highs around 22°C and dry weather following the monsoon. The metalworkers' quarter around Oku Bahal is best in the early morning, when the hammering begins.