Art Deco Sunburst Relief Panel

Pure Jazz Age geometry, carved in wood. This square relief is a full-throttle Art Deco composition, symmetrical top to bottom and side to side. A bold X-brace runs through the centre, its bevelled arms banded with fine parallel ribs, framing twin fanned shells that open like theatre curtains at top and bottom. The four corners burst into stepped sunray rosettes, each ringed with a beaded, cobblestone-textured border, while small ribbed medallions punctuate the left and right edges. Every plane is stacked and terraced, so raking light throws the design into crisp shadow. It suits anyone chasing a 1920s or Gatsby-era interior: mount it as a standalone wall tile, set it into a cabinet or headboard as a carved insert, or repeat several to build a coffered ceiling feature. The deep, tiered relief also photographs beautifully as a statement piece above a fireplace. Print / cut notes • Machine in a tight-grained hardwood (maple, cherry) or dense MDF; busy Deco detail can splinter in soft, open-grained stock. • Rough with a flat end mill, then finish the sunrays and beading with a tapered ball-nose to reach the stepped pockets cleanly. • Keep the panel flat and well clamped, and orient the grain diagonally if you can so the X-arms don't run straight along the wood fibres. • A coat of sanding sealer before staining stops the recessed beadwork drinking pigment and going blotchy.