Compact Urn

A keepsake urn is the small kind, sized for a shelf rather than a mantelpiece, and this is the smallest we make: a square block of optical crystal 3.94 inches wide and 2.36 in both other directions. The ashes are held in a sealed compartment in the base and the portrait is engraved inside the crystal above it. Being small is not a compromise here, it is the entire point of the object.

Small on Purpose

Not every family wants an object that announces itself. Some want the person somewhere ordinary, at eye level among books or on a bedside table, in something that a visitor would take for a piece of glass with a picture in it. At just under four inches across this fits where a larger piece will not, and it can be picked up in one hand, which matters to people who do pick it up. The headstone-shaped urn in this group is roughly ten times its weight and behaves like furniture by comparison.

One Portrait, and Often More Than One Piece

One figure is recommended. An urn is about a single person, and a portrait of them alone is what most families want to see; a group photograph belongs in one of the keepsake crystals in this category, which take up to five. The square proportion suits a head and shoulders and crops a standing full-length shot more kindly than a tall block would. Because of the size, this is also the piece families order more than once, so that several relatives each have the same object rather than one person keeping everything. We lay a set out identically when you tell us it is a set.

What Is Engraved and How

The image is engraved inside the material at controlled depths rather than printed on it, so nothing can fade or rub away and the polished outside stays clear. Free text engraving is included for a name and two dates, or a short line below the image. The background can be kept or removed. Send whatever photograph exists, including one taken with a phone or scanned from paper; our designers prepare the file, and you receive a free proof by email before anything is cut. An LED base, a cleaning kit, crystal accessories and video books can be added. Gift box included, made in 1-2 business days, US delivery in 3-5.