Colonial Life Chest

Twenty-six inches wide and eighteen tall, this is a chest rather than an urn in the usual sense. The interior takes ashes alongside photographs, letters, a folded flag, or whatever else a family wants kept together in one place. It opens from the top.

Because it is furniture-sized, measure the shelf, sideboard, or closet space you have in mind before ordering. A chest this large usually lives in a study or a bedroom rather than on a mantel. Families who are not ready to decide between keeping the ashes and scattering them often use one as somewhere to hold everything while they think it through.

• 26 in wide by 18 in tall; measure your space before you order
• Top opening, with room for keepsakes and documents as well as ashes
• The largest of the life chests at 26 inches wide, so a mantel will not take it