Wender·Vista
Amstel
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNetherlands
running north through the polder into Amsterdam

Amstel

— — the river the city was named 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 river the city was named for. The Amstel runs about thirty-one kilometres north through the polder from Aarlanderveen, past Uithoorn and Ouderkerk, into Amsterdam, where the dam built across it in the 13th century gave the city its name. The Magere Brug, a wooden draw-bridge first built in 1691, crosses it near the Hermitage. In the long Dutch summer evenings the rowing eights still come up from the south.

from the studio
Amstel
— bring it home

Amstel, 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 Amstel

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 Amstel rises in the polder at Aarlanderveen, in South Holland, where the Drecht meets the Kromme Mijdrecht. From there it runs about thirty-one kilometres north through Uithoorn and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel into Amsterdam, where it meets the Singelgracht and continues into the city as the Binnen Amstel. The dam built across the river around 1270 gave the city its name: Amstelredamme, the dam on the Amstel. The river drains a slice of the Randstad polder system.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the water

The Amstel is a managed water. Its level is held by sluices and the river runs slow, often glassy. Houseboats line both banks through the city, the largest concentration of permanent floating homes anywhere in Europe. The Amsterdam Rowing Society De Hoop, founded in 1848, trains on the long straight south of the city. In hard winters the river freezes; the last full Amstel skating tour was held in the 1990s, before mild winters became the norm.

— informed by Wikipedia — De Hoop
— the stone

The Magere Brug, the slim white wooden draw-bridge most photographed on the river, was first built in 1691 and rebuilt several times since. The current span dates from 1934 and was restored in 2017. Up-river of it sits the Blauwbrug, an 1883 stone bridge modelled on the Pont Alexandre III in Paris. The Amstel Hotel, opened in 1867, looks across the water to the Hermitage Amsterdam in the former Amstelhof building of 1683.

— where
Netherlands · Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
— elevation
-1 m · -3 ft
— position
52.3589° N · 4.9094° 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.
at the lake
Magere Brug
wooden draw-bridge
at the lake
Hermitage Amsterdam
museum
9 km S
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
riverside village
at the lake
Royal Theatre Carré
19th-century theatre
5 km S
Amstelpark
city park
N
Amstel
Magere Brug
Hermitage Amsterdam
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
Royal Theatre Carré
Amstelpark
— common questions

What people ask.

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

The Amstel runs about thirty-one kilometres from its source at Aarlanderveen, where the Drecht meets the Kromme Mijdrecht, north through the polder into Amsterdam. The river within the city centre is sometimes called the Binnen Amstel.

Yes. Settlers built a dam across the river around 1270 to control flooding from the Zuiderzee, and the town that grew around the dam was called Amstelredamme, the dam on the Amstel. The name compressed to Amsterdam by the late 13th century.

The Magere Brug, or Skinny Bridge, is a white wooden draw-bridge across the Amstel near the Hermitage Amsterdam. First built in 1691, the current span dates from 1934 and was restored in 2017. It is still drawn open by hand on a schedule.

The Amstel begins at Aarlanderveen, in the polder of South Holland province, where the Drecht and the Kromme Mijdrecht meet. The source is unspectacular: a confluence of small managed channels in flat farmland, a long way from the city the river feeds.

Yes. The Amstel Brewery was founded in 1870 on the river's banks in Amsterdam and took its name from the water. The original brewery building stood until 1980; the brand is now produced by Heineken at facilities outside the city.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for someone from Amsterdam or anywhere along the river, and for a Dutch friend abroad. A Medium for the wall or a Coaster Set for the kitchen reads as a piece of home.

The river's muted greens, blues, and warm brick suit Dutch Modern, Scandi-modern, and Canal-house Classic. It also pairs with a Coastal-modern palette of soft blues and white.

A single Large above a console works for the bridge views; for the long horizontal of the water and the rowing eights, a 4-tile Mural or 9-tile Mural carries the line better above a sofa.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so steam and splash do not lift it. Glossy is best for a dry wall or a powder room.

A microfibre cloth with water. No abrasives, no solvents. The colour lives in the surface beneath a thin glossy finish, and dust comes off in seconds.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house in Knoxville, Tennessee, by Reid Wender and the studio. Nothing is licensed, nothing is resold. The Amstel composition is the studio's own reading of the river.

— if this one stayed with you

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