About
Eric Stocker
Master Artisan • 47 Years of Excellence • Keeper of Ancient Traditions
A Lifetime Dedicated to Mastery
Eric Stocker brings nearly five decades of uncompromising craftsmanship to every piece he creates. Trained in the exacting standards of French National Museums, where he spent 47 years restoring some of the world's most precious artifacts, Eric has dedicated his life to preserving techniques that span centuries and honoring objects of immeasurable cultural value.
His hands have touched pieces destined for the Louvre, works by masters whose names are whispered in reverence in the halls of art history. This experience instilled in him a profound understanding: true mastery reveals itself not in speed, but in patience; not in shortcuts, but in the quiet dedication to perfection that defines a life's work.
From French Museums to Cambodian Heritage
Eric's journey took an unexpected turn when he discovered the ancient art of Khmer lacquerwork in Cambodia—a tradition dating back over 1,000 years, yet facing extinction. In this demanding craft, which requires 20 to 50 hand-applied layers of natural tree lacquer, weeks of drying between each application, and eggshell fragments placed one by one with tweezers, Eric found everything he had spent a lifetime pursuing: patience, precision, and reverence for materials that speak across centuries.
But he found something more: a profound social mission. In Cambodia, Eric established a workshop dedicated not only to preserving this disappearing art form but to training deaf artisans—providing them with dignified livelihoods and the pride of mastering one of humanity's most refined crafts.
Philosophy: Art Worthy of Life
"A cremation urn should be more than a container. It should be a work of art worthy of the life it honors—something that, centuries from now, could rest in a museum as a testament to both the person remembered and the craft that created it."
— Eric Stocker
Eric's urns are not mass-produced memorial products. They are investment pieces, comparable to museum-quality Japanese lacquerwork by masters like Shibata Zeshin, whose works sell for over £500,000 at Christie's auctions. Each piece represents 80 to 300+ hours of master-level handwork, using materials so rare and techniques so demanding that only a handful of artisans worldwide can execute them.
Natural lacquer comes from rare tree resin, sustainably harvested in limited quantities. Genuine gemstones—52 garnets and 160 emeralds totaling 20.4 carats in The Precious, certified by a French gemologist—are hand-set with the precision of haute joaillerie. Iridescent beetle wings from Southeast Asian jewel beetles, a technique used in ancient Egyptian scarab art, shimmer with colors that cannot be replicated by any modern process.
These are not urns. They are heirlooms, destined to be passed down through generations, their value—both emotional and monetary—appreciating with time.
A Living Legacy
Eric is among the last remaining masters who possess this ancient technique. When you commission a piece from him, you are not simply purchasing a memorial urn—you are acquiring a work by a living master whose pieces will be tomorrow's museum treasures, participating in the preservation of a 1,000-year-old tradition, and supporting the training of deaf artisans in Cambodia who are learning that creating objects of beauty and meaning is among humanity's highest callings.
Every urn that leaves Eric's workshop carries within it not just months of meticulous handwork, but 47 years of expertise, a millennium of tradition, and the understanding that the finest memorial should be a masterpiece worthy of the life it honors.
Commission Your Legacy
Eric accepts a limited number of custom commissions each year, creating bespoke pieces that incorporate personal symbols, initials, or meaningful elements chosen by the family.