Carved panels were used to decorate both fixed woodwork (like panelled walls or fireplaces) and portable furniture (like chests or cupboards). A great variety of renaissance ornament, such as the symmetrical vase, curled leaf or the cherub on this panel, was used all over northern Europe, often in conjunction with traditional linenfold ornament.

To make a panel, usually a single split (or riven) oak board was used, and the shallow carved ornament created using chisels and sometimes a plane. The back of the panel would be left undecorated, and the edges worked all round to form a uniform narrow tongue. These edges of the panels were held in grooves cut along the edges of an oak framework held firmly together using mortice and tenon joints. This method, known as panelling, was relatively lightweight, but also durable since the panels, not needing to be fixed with nails, were unlikely to warp or split.