Decorative wooden wall panels or wainscoting, especially elaborate carved wood interior designs popular in French architecture.
From French 'boiserie' (wooden paneling), derived from 'bois' (wood) with the suffix '-erie' indicating a collection or technique, ultimately from Latin 'boscus' meaning 'wood' or 'forest'.
Boiseries became the ultimate status symbol in 18th-century France—a room covered floor-to-ceiling with hand-carved wooden panels could take artisans years to complete and cost fortunes, making them a measure of aristocratic wealth as much as gilt or marble.
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