Well, yes.  In a way.  But not the casket you normally think of.  Jewelry caskets.  Specifically, embroidered jewelry caskets similar to ones made from 1625 to 1700 in England.  And some in France.  And an occasional one in the Low Countries.  

I got started with this almost four years ago when I was introduced to Tricia Wilson-Nguyen, a master embroiderer and materials science expert with a couple of degrees from MIT, and who was passionate about this project.  She originally asked me to do a couple of measured drawings for her from one of the caskets, which I completed over the next month, in off hours.  The original plan was to start an online embroidery course which would be comprehensive in scope, and with a final project that might include a casket like this.  These were originally taught to school girls and the few remaining caskets (almost all in museums) exhibit the full range of work – from incomplete, modest schoolgirl attempts, to masterful designs, executed with consummate skill.

One of the most difficult projects to accomplish, this is generally regarded as the crowning achievement for an embroiderer.  So I’ve measured many over the following years, and built even more. There are three final versions, of varying complexity, but all historically appropriate and with several changes to eliminate the wood cracking due to humidity changes that every single one of the originals had.  Researching the wood and the history with conservators ,  the two I analyzed were made from Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.).

This is the layout of the simple, flat topped casket.  A tray, two secret, hidden drawers, a removable panel, and a lock, all supporting a casket with four hand turned mahogany feet.  The others are significantly more complex and have more locks, hardware and hidden compartments.

I’ll show you some more photos in the next weeks – the project has now grown to over 500 people in many countries, and you can view some of the information at her site, Thistle Threads.  And I’ve learned a lot about embroidered jewelry caskets in the meantime.

-Richard