Eggshell Urn

︎ Creator: Celine Huang      
︎ Supervisor: Peter Yeadon


In this project, I worked with an eggshell-based “ceramic” by experimenting with various consistencies, colors, and constructions of the material to discover its functional properties and create a product informed by them.

I began with a simple, three-ingredient eggshell biomaterial recipe from the Materiom website that called for 24 g of eggshell powder, 5 g of gelatin powder, and 12 ml of water. Once combined, these ingredients turn into a thick, sandy liquid that can be poured into, or over, a mold. In my first experiments, I did not have access to a blender, so I hand-ground the eggshells, which created a shiny, almost coral-like sculpture when poured over an inflated glove. I was fascinated by the way this solid material captured the organic drips and flow of its liquid state, and decided to keep working with this basic recipe. 

In the following weeks, I tested finer eggshell powders that maintained some sparkliness while binding better with the gelatin. I also added different pigments for color, and combined multiple colors in a single structure. I tested different ways to manipulate the structure by pouring it into molds or onto surfaces, observing how the mixture behaved. However, I discovered that while the material may harden into a ceramic-like texture and feel, it cannot function the same way ceramics can, due to its water solubility and heat sensitivity. Because gelatin is the primary binder, the material dissolves easily in water, so it cannot function as a vase or other water-containing vessels; and, it melts in heat, so it cannot function as a soup bowl or even a coaster.

Urns are a type of vessel that explicitly holds ashes, which are a dry material, and is either kept in a safe place or buried in the ground where it is allowed to degrade. An urn made out of my eggshell “ceramic” material is able to remain solid on a shelf, while biodegrading easily in wet soil later. Hence, this use optimizes the eggshell biocomposite’s material properties — it works well for the purposes of an urn, for the same reason that it fails as a typical ceramic object.

Thinking more closely about the biodegradation of the material in soil, I realized that eggshells and gelatin contain calcium and nitrogen respectively, and both nutrients are extremely beneficial for plant health. In my eggshell ceramic urn, I decided to embed flower seeds into the material, which, after the urn biodegrades, use the calcium and nitrogen released by the urn to grow. The person whose ashes are contained in the urn can thus choose what flowers or other plants they would like to grow at their gravesite, serving as a beautiful method of rebirth and remembrance.

Using the recipes I developed in my material experiments, I mimicked methods used in dessert-making to create the contained form of the urn. Further steps for this project would be to do more research into the effects of human remains on the growth of plants to determine if plant growth from the urn is feasible, or what kind of plants would be optimal in those conditions. More experiments would also be done to refine the urn-making process.