Wender·Vista
Tainan
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTaiwan
on the southwest coast of Taiwan

Tainan

— — the old capital, the temple city, the kitchen of the island.

— 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 oldest city on Taiwan, set on the southwest coast where the Dutch built their fort in 1624 and Koxinga took it back forty years later. Temples stand on almost every block of the old centre, more than a thousand by some counts. The food is the country's reference standard: beef soup at dawn, danzai noodles at noon, shaved ice at three.

from the studio
Tainan
— bring it home

Tainan, 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 Tainan

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

Tainan sits on Taiwan's southwest coast on the alluvial plain facing the Taiwan Strait, about 350 kilometres south of Taipei. It is the oldest city on the island, founded as a Dutch trading post called Fort Zeelandia in 1624 and taken by the Ming loyalist Koxinga in 1662. Tainan served as Taiwan's capital under Qing rule until 1885. The municipality covers about 2,200 square kilometres and holds a population of roughly 1.85 million. The old centre, anchored by the Confucius Temple of 1665, sits east of the rebuilt Anping district on the coast.

— informed by Wikipedia, Tainan Travel
— the stone

Anping Old Fort, on the western edge of the city, occupies the site of the Dutch East India Company's Fort Zeelandia, founded in 1624. A surviving brick outer wall, sections of which still show the company's masonry, anchors the modern reconstruction. The Confucius Temple, established in 1665, is the oldest in Taiwan and remains the centre of the autumn rites each September. Chihkan Tower, built on the Dutch Fort Provintia of 1653, was rebuilt as a Chinese-style pavilion under the Qing. Tainan counts more than a thousand registered temples, a density unmatched on the island.

— the year

Tainan's year is set by temple festivals more than by the secular calendar. The Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival, held on the fifteenth night of the Lunar New Year, fires hundreds of thousands of rockets into the crowd around the Wumiao Temple. The autumn rites at the Confucius Temple, held on the Saturday closest to 28 September, mark Confucius's traditional birthday and Teacher's Day. Mazu pilgrimages, processions of the sea goddess's palanquin, move through the streets in spring. The food calendar is its own clock: beef soup at dawn, danzai noodles at noon, milkfish in the evening.

— where
Taiwan · Tainan
— elevation
10 m · 33 ft
— position
22.9999° N · 120.2270° 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.
5 km W
Anping District
historic coastal district
45 km S
Kaohsiung
port city
1 km N
Chihkan Tower
Qing-era pavilion
N
Tainan
Anping District
Kaohsiung
Chihkan Tower
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Tainan sits on the southwest coast of Taiwan, on the alluvial plain facing the Taiwan Strait, about 350 kilometres south of Taipei and 45 kilometres north of Kaohsiung.

Tainan was the political and economic centre of Taiwan from the Dutch period in 1624 through the Qing dynasty, serving as the island's capital until the seat of government was moved to Taipei in 1885.

Anping Old Fort stands on the site of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch East India Company's headquarters founded in 1624. Sections of the original brick wall survive beneath and beside the modern reconstruction.

Tainan is known for its temples, its Dutch and Ming-era history, and its food. The city holds more than a thousand registered temples and is widely considered the gastronomic capital of Taiwan.

October through March is most comfortable, with cooler dry weather. The Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival falls on the fifteenth night of the Lunar New Year, drawing the largest crowd of the year.

Established in 1665 under Koxinga's son Zheng Jing, the Tainan Confucius Temple is the oldest in Taiwan and the site of the autumn rites held on the Saturday closest to 28 September.

— about the piece in your home

Often, yes. Tainan holds deep affection in Taiwanese culture as the old capital and food city. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well to a former resident.

The deep reds, blacks, and gold of the artwork suit Japandi, Maximalist Asian, and Temple-modern rooms with dark wood and rice paper. It also sits well in a tea room or library.

Yes. The return to Asian-temple imagery and warm-red interiors has grown alongside the broader interest in Taiwan since 2023. Tainan grounds that program in the island's oldest visual register.

A single Large works above a console. Above a standard sofa, a 4-tile Mural carries the weight; for a longer wall, the 9-tile Mural reads as one continuous image.

Yes. For wet or high-traffic walls, choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and is not affected by steam.

A microfibre cloth with plain water. No solvents or abrasives. The surface is hand-finished in the studio and sits beneath a thin glossy or satin finish that protects the colour.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Reid Wender is the curator and the eye. We do not license, syndicate, or resell artwork from other studios.

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