portrait urn by Nadia Gonegai from netherlands

A familiar face
Portret urn by Nadia Gonegaï

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, Nadia 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 27 to 32 centimeters 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 10 centimeters 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, you keep them close to your heart

With the Portrait urn, Nadia Gonegaï from Grafmonument.nu is releasing another new urn. She previously designed the Unicurn (a bronze miniature tree with a crown of Barcloth), the Herdenkingshand ("Memorial Hand," an urn made from a mold of the deceased's hand) and the Telha (a transparent urn tile).