Bas relief in Exeter

Exeter has always been a city that carves its stories into buildings, and bas relief in Exeter brings that habit indoors. Zavoré sculpts low relief pictures and patterns straight into a wall, so that a tree, a skyline or a line of lettering rises gently from the surface and belongs to the house. We are based in Birmingham, where our Academy is. Send a photo of the wall and anything that inspires you, and we will take it from there.

Why Exeter walls take relief so well

Walk up to the cathedral and the west front is lined with carved figures, while inside, the ceiling bosses tell their own small stories. Relief is part of what this city looks like. Georgian rooms around Southernhay and Barnfield add moulded plaster, and Victorian villas in St Leonard's and Heavitree often keep tall, plain walls above the fireplace waiting for something.

Subjects come easily here. A reed bed on the Exe estuary, oak leaves from a Devon lane, a Dartmoor skyline, the gables of Topsham or the old Quay can each be drawn and then raised from the plaster in layers. You are not limited to local scenes, of course. A single botanical stem climbing a stairwell is just as welcome.

Bas relief is also forgiving of old houses. It is built up by hand on your wall rather than cast in a factory, so it can follow an uneven surface and meet cornice or a chimney breast without a joint showing.

Where it works, indoors and in business

A living room or dining room wall can hold a full landscape with trees, hills and architecture standing out in layers, and it takes the place of a picture altogether. Behind a bed it stands in for a headboard, and soft light from the side brings out the relief well.

Exeter's restaurants, hotel lobbies and bars can carry a logo or lettering in relief, drawn to scale and approved before any plaster goes on. Our bas relief page explains what the craft is and where it comes from, from Egyptian carvers to Robert Adam's plasterwork.

Leave it pure white so light and shadow do the work, paint it as a three dimensional scene, or finish it with Venetian plaster, limewash or metallic detail. LED strips can be hidden behind branches, arches and ledges so the wall glows in the evening, wired by a qualified electrician.

How a bas relief commission runs in Exeter

You send a photo of the wall, its size and whatever has caught your imagination, whether a sketch, a pattern, a plant or a photograph. We draw the piece to the scale of your wall, so you can see how far it rises and how it sits in the room, before plaster goes anywhere near it.

The relief is then built up in layers and carved on your wall while the material is workable, and refined until every edge is clean. Lighting is planned at the design stage so channels are sculpted in from the beginning. Our bas relief installation page sets out the process.

Exeter is some way from Birmingham, so the sculpting is planned in blocks of days and the artists stay on the job rather than coming and going. We agree dates once the design and price are signed off, and we survey the wall first and tell you plainly if it needs work. Owners of listed houses should check with the council about consent.

Relief next to other finishes

If you want a pattern repeated across a big wall, sculptural plaster panels are usually quicker and more affordable, while bas relief is made once for one wall with no repeat. We do both and will say which suits yours. A relief also looks lovely rising from a polished plaster or marmorino wall.

To learn sculpting skills yourself, see our training page, and for the wider range, visit our decorative work page.

More decorative work in Exeter

A relief wall rarely stands alone. For repeated, seamless patterns, sculptural plaster in Exeter is the sister service, and a painted scene is the work of murals in Exeter. Glass and stone pieces for bathrooms are described under mosaics in Exeter, and metal leaf for raised edges under gilding in Exeter. For a deep gloss next door, read about lacquered walls in Exeter, and for the line above, cornice and coving in Exeter. We also make artificial rock in Exeter for outdoor work and travertino in Exeter for a stone look in lime. Browse the decorative finishes specialist in Exeter page for the full picture, or Venetian plastering in Exeter for polished walls.

Questions about bas relief in Exeter

What is the difference between bas relief and a carved plaster panel?

Bas relief is sculpted by hand on your wall and is different from end to end. Panels are a set design repeated across the wall.

Can you sculpt my own sketch or a company logo?

Yes. A commission usually starts from something you love. We draw it to the scale of your wall first so you can approve it before we start.

Will it work on an old uneven wall?

Often, yes, because it is built up on the wall by hand. We survey first and tell you if the wall needs repair before sculpting begins.

Can I add lighting to the relief?

Yes. It is planned at the design stage so channels and recesses are sculpted in, and a qualified electrician makes the connections.

Telephone 07592 929191 (Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm) or email sales@zavore.co.uk with photos, rough measurements and the postcode. If a plaster finish is part of the idea, the sample board is the place to look first.