Wender·Vista
Ta'if
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileSaudi Arabia
in the Sarawat mountains above Mecca

Ta'if

— — the city the heat lets go of in summer.

— 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 mountain city of the Hejaz, lifted to about 1,879 metres in the Sarawat range, two hours by road east of Mecca. Long the summer retreat of the Saudi royal household and of pilgrims who can climb the escarpment for a few cool weeks. The rose harvest comes in late March and runs about forty days; the city's small distilleries press the petals into attar for the perfume markets of the Gulf.

from the studio
Ta'if
— bring it home

Ta'if, 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 Ta'if

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

Ta'if sits on the western edge of the Sarawat mountains in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, at an elevation of roughly 1,879 metres. The city is reached from Mecca by the Al-Hada road, which climbs the escarpment in tight switchbacks, or by cable car from the lower town. Its summer climate is markedly cooler than the Tihamah coast below, which is why the Saudi royal court has long retreated here in July and August. The population of the urban area sits near 700,000.

— informed by Wikipedia, Visit Saudi
— the air

What the city sells is altitude. Temperatures in midsummer typically run 15 to 20 degrees Celsius below those of Jeddah and Mecca on the coast. Pomegranate, fig, and stone-fruit orchards terrace the slopes around Al-Shafa, southwest of the city centre. The Hejazi rose, Rosa damascena trigintipetala, was brought to Ta'if by Ottoman cultivators in the seventeenth century and now grows in some two thousand small gardens along the Al-Hada road.

— informed by Wikipedia: Damask rose
— the year

The rose harvest defines Ta'if's calendar. Pickers gather petals before dawn from roughly late March through early May, when many millions of blooms move through the city's small distilleries. A traditional batch yields about twelve grams of attar — a single tola — from twelve kilograms of petals. The annual Souk Okaz festival, revived by the Saudi government in 2007 on the site of the pre-Islamic literary market, draws poets and merchants back to the plateau each spring.

— informed by Wikipedia: Souk Okaz
— where
Saudi Arabia · Ta'if Governorate, Mecca Province
— elevation
1,879 m · 6,165 ft
— position
21.2700° N · 40.4200° 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.
20 km NW
Al-Hada
mountain resort
25 km SW
Al-Shafa
highland orchard district
70 km W
Mecca
holy city
N
Ta'if
Al-Hada
Al-Shafa
Mecca
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Ta'if — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

In the Sarawat mountains of western Saudi Arabia, in Mecca Province, about 70 kilometres southeast of Mecca, and reached by the Al-Hada road or by cable car from the lower town.

Its elevation near 1,879 metres puts it 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the Hejaz coast in July and August. Saudi royals and senior officials traditionally move here for the hottest weeks of the year.

Attar pressed from the Hejazi variety of Rosa damascena, grown in small gardens around Al-Hada. The petals are picked before dawn and distilled the same day. Twelve kilograms of petals yield about twelve grams of oil.

Late March through early May, with peak picking in April. The petal markets and small distilleries along the Al-Hada road run almost continuously through that six-week window.

The mountain road climbing the western escarpment from the Tihamah coastal plain up to Ta'if. It rises about 1,500 metres in a series of tight switchbacks and is closed to heavy trucks during peak fog.

A pre-Islamic literary fair held annually near Ta'if before the seventh century, where Arabic poets competed openly. Saudi Arabia revived the souk as a heritage festival in 2007 on its traditional site.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Ta'if carries a particular tenderness for Hejazi families and for anyone who summered on the escarpment as a child. A Small or Medium reads well; a Coaster Set travels light to a visit.

The rose, dusty-rose, and oxidised-copper palette suits Maximalist studies, jewel-tone Romantic interiors, and warm Middle-Eastern modern rooms. It also softens cooler Minimalist spaces with a single quiet note.

Yes. The dusty-rose and copper register sits inside the current Hejazi-modern direction of Saudi residential design, and the imagery reads as place-specific rather than as generic Orientalism.

A single Large carries above most sofas. A four-tile Mural opens out for wider walls behind a console, and a nine-tile Mural reads as a window onto the rose terraces themselves.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and unbothered by steam and splash, which suits a backsplash, a vanity, or a shower wall.

A soft microfibre cloth and water is enough. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective layer, so there is nothing to flake, peel, or fade.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the Knoxville studio under Reid Wender's eye. Nothing is licensed in, and nothing is licensed out to other makers.

— if this one stayed with you

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