Boiserie in St. Petersburg interiors: 18th to early 20th century

Abstract

The article explores boiserie as a method of decorating interiors with a system of wooden elements. Complexities in the descriptions of interiors made “in wood” by art historians are largely due to the contradictions that arise in the process of borrowing terminology from carpentry and to the lack of a generalized specialized research work on wooden interior decoration. The purpose of the article is to clarify the terminology for describing interiors “in wood”. Much attention is paid to the peculiarities of the interaction of boiserie elements between each other and with architecture. The study involved a review of dictionaries, art history literature, and publications on carpentry and cabinetmaking. Analogies are drawn between terms and real objects; a table of terminological equivalents is compiled in four languages. The thesaurus approach and the method of comparative analysis of textual and illustrative sources helped to supplement the contents of the terms “lambris” and “boiserie”. As a result, a generalized typology of boiserie is proposed, with the characteristics of the panels assigned to it. In conclusion, the use of boiserie as an artistic technique for interior design contributes to the formation of a special architectural image of space.