Four section Elk panel, from an Oak Park Illinois commercial building, circa 1900.

This is a very good bas relief sculpture of an Elk in profile in his natural setting, a careful examination reveals the low relief background includes mountains with a lake, and two trees flanking either end, and finally the grass/weeds in the foreground.

Bas relief work is one of the more difficult to execute well because it relies heavily on angles and tricks to create the illusion of depth much like a painting does, in fact one could well consider the bas relief to be a painting with a third dimention.

The panel is yellow terra cotta with a brown-red underglaze.

Photo of the back along with the incized design number. The four piece panel totals 520 pounds and is 5 feet wide and a bit over 40 inches tall.