Designer Makes Unique Dinnerware Sets Out of Human Remains

Justin Crowe is an artist who wants to change the way people process death and memorialize their loved ones.

So that’s why this designer makes dinnerware from human remains…

Not Your Typical Ceramics Maker

Justin Crowe has a background in ceramics. But the stuff that he makes on his potter’s wheel isn’t exactly your everyday kind of dinnerware. Crowe makes his plates, bowls, and mugs from out of human remains.

His Grandfather’s Death

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The death of Crowe’s grandfather had a profound effect on him. The fact that it occurred in his own home helped to make the experience easier. It “helped normalize his death and ideas of my own mortality,” he says.

The Inspiration

Crowe needed to figure out a way to share this feeling with others: “I wanted to create an art piece that allowed other people to have that same experience – confronting mortality in everyday life.”

Bone Ash

Having worked with ceramics before, Crowe already knew that bone ash was commonly used to make china. Sterilized animal bones are ground and mixed with other materials to create a type of soft-paste porcelain.