The relief decoration of the front side of this chest has been roughed-out with the point chisel. The marks of this stage of work are still visible on the background, which the carver never got around to carving.
The column and decorative finial on the right have been carved more finely than the rest of the relief with the flat chisel. The fact that this fine detail is visible alongside rougher point chiselling shows that the carver was working from the front of the chest inwards carving different details as they went.
