Portrait Urn

Created by visual artist Nadia Gonegaï, who makes urns whose profiles cast shadows of people both living and dead.

I wonder if she would make one from Gray Cat's beautiful face.

Stay tuned.

From designboom, which headlined its article "design for death":

At first sight, the Portrait Urn is an everyday urn with a strong relief. But when you look a little closer, literally into the shadow of the vase, you can discern the silhouette of a face. The familiar face of the dearly departed. The Portrait Urn is round, and displays from top to bottom a person's facial profile, from crown, via nose, to neck.

The Portrait urn is an innovative design by artist Nadia Gonegaï from 's-Hertogenbosch. In the past few years, she has applied herself to personalized grave monuments and urns. She discovered that the choice of urns is still impersonal and not very diverse. "Every human being, each life is unique. And at the end, there should be a personalized and fitting urn," says Gonegaï. "Nothing is as personal as a face. A single glance at someone's profile is often enough to recognize a person beyond any doubt. I wanted to do something with that."

As a general rule, Gonegaï wants to create something personal every time, but she is also searching for something that can be realized in higher volumes. "I don't want to lose the quality and craft in the process, " she says. "My designs have to be durable, for life."

An urn can be a cold object that is hidden on top of a cabinet. The Portrait Urn is not scary. It's a familiar face that deserves a warm spot in the home of his or her loved ones. The urn comes to life as soon as it is hit by sunlight or candlelight. "The shadow of the urn reveals the lines of the face. This way the loved one always remains in the company of his or her survivors."

The Portrait urn can be tailored to the personality of the deceased. Earth tones fit an outdoorsy type, or for those with a knack for design the urn can be executed in shimmering metal or classical bronze. A less costly alternative is neolith, which is available in all colors. By gold-plating or covering this artificial material with tin or bronze, it can be made to fit in every interior. Inside the urn is a locked box in which the cremains are kept. A cover (of the same material as the urn) in the base seals the urn hermetically.

The Portrait Urn is about 10 to 13 inches tall and can be made based on a single profile photo of the deceased. In the event that such a photo is not available, a silhouette of the departed can be reconstructed based on several other photographs of the person's face. A smaller version (approximately 4 inches tall) is also available. This way all children or brothers and sisters can have a tangible memory in their homes. If you wear it as an necklace (below),

you keep them close to your heart.