Unique Cremation Urns

Bandon Memorial Urns is a family owned company that has been in the business of creating cast glass sculpture and vessels for more than twenty years. The cast crystal cremation urns we offer are unique in the world. Each vessel is handmade in our studio in Bandon, a small community on the south coast of Oregon.

Our "Memorial Urns" are designed to be the centerpiece of the memorial service. We have incorporated copper closures that allow the lid to be easily opened, closed, and fastened securely. This allows the option of being able to disperse or divide the ashes. The urn itself may then become a memorial for the departed. We have endeavored to create some of the finest vessels in the world, with the awareness that your memorial urn will become a permanent family heirloom that will pass through time, unchanged for generations to come.

As cremation becomes the preferred option for many families dealing with the loss of a loved one, sometimes there is uncertainty in regard to the proper thing to do. This is the kind of situation in which we are guided by tradition. Although our culture has many traditions in regard to burial, such as embalming, wakes, funeral services, grave stones, cemeteries and so on, traditions involving cremation are just now being established, and this is a family affair.

Cremation urns not only contain the ashes, but serve as the focal point of the memorial service. After the service the ashes may be scattered or placed in smaller urns and given to family members. This is why it's important to have an urn with a lid that can be opened and closed securely. Sometimes people choose to keep the ashes in the urn and then place it in a niche in a mausoleum or crematorium. More often they keep it in their home. The urn itself becomes a memorial for the departed, and in a way replaces the tombstone in a cemetery plot. This is why it's important that the urn be of a substantial material, and an object of beauty, because it becomes a family treasure.

Throughout history cremation urns, which are sometimes known as funeral urns, cinerary urns, or reliquaries have been made of the choicest material available to the vessel craftsman. Ceramic cremation urns are the most common historically, such as those from ancient Egypt. Bronze cremation urns were made by the Chinese thousands of years ago, as well as carved jade urns, and marble urns. Cast glass urns, and crystal, which is a refined type of glass, are less common historically because they are very difficult to make. A few glass urns from antiquity have survived, and are virtually unchanged, because glass is one of the most durable materials known to man. Today marble urns are produced on a lathe, usually imported from China. Most bronze and cloisonné urns are also imported, due to the labor intensive production required.
There is a burgeoning awareness among many American artists and craftsmen as to the significance of the cremation urn. Funerary art is a growing movement involving myriad styles of expression and materials in this country. Cremation urns that are American made and possess the aesthetic qualities of an art object are now available. Choosing such an urn enables an expression of ones life, as well as a memorial to that life.