The tepen was decorated using the technique of biplanar carving. The wide plane across the background was deepened evenly, and the convex pattern took on a particular volume. When developing the flat surface for the highlighted figures, contoured and notched (grooved) carving was used. Crisscrossing lines sometimes created their own pattern. The association that it had with a ‘plait’ or ‘cord’ gave rise to a technique that was typical only for artisans from the Burzyanskiy District: a narrow border strip protruding above the surface was seemingly cut through by inclined grooves, applied evenly at a short distance from each other. Along the upper and lower edges, these stripes were doubled, and the grooves in adjacent rows ran in opposite directions, with the rows coming close to each other. The reverse (background, deepened) design resembled a ‘fir tree’.

The most complicated ornamental composition is the figure presented in ethnographic literature as a stylized, soaring bird. The carved ‘plait’ marks the soft sweep of its wings. The space between the contours is divided into teeth and triangles; the large triangle in the center could be mistaken for the head and beak. 

On the cover, these images are placed around a central disc. On the body of the tub, in the free space, they are doubled, touching the base with their wide side, and one of the images is inverse in relation to the other. This magical sign rests on a twisted column, sculpturally rising above the lower stripes of the ornamentation where they intersect, and seemingly extending into the supporting leg. Where the handles are located, only one figure — the lower one — is placed, but on the plane with the handles the presence of the upper image is indicated by several grooves. The top of the lid was decorated with projecting relief. A solar circle surrounded by rings became a favorite motif.