An impressive complete room set of French late 19th century Empire revival ormolu mounted mahogany boiseries or wall panels by Bricard of Paris
Circa 1880
In the main comprising; four panels each inset with multiple mirror glass plates; four triple tablet panels; four (or two pairs) of hinged astragal glazed door panels; two mirror panels; two polychrome decorated panels; two small lower panels; and other elements:

each multiple mirror-inset panel comprised of ten plates encompassed within berried stiff-leaf mounted astragals, above a lotus leaf and dart moulded lower tablet mounted with scrolled acanthus, palmette, honeysuckle and rosette adornments, each panel very approximately: 336cm high x 89cm wide,

each triple tablet panel with lotus leaf and dart moulded surrounds, the upper tablet with a central ormolu ribbon tied laurel wreath mount within honeysuckle trail borders and rosette angles, the main tablet mounted with two opposing cornucopiae filled with assorted fruit and flowers issuing laurel trails to the top, with a central pearled ormolu roundel depicting a classical profile medallion (two are male busts and two female), with an anthemion and bellflower pendant below, the stylised floral, foliate, honeysuckle and anthemion framing mounts with rosette angles, over a tablet with a pinecone surmounted and foliate cast thyrsus issuing scrolled acanthus and palmettes, each panel very approximately: 336cm high x 74cm wide,

each hinged astragal glazed lockable door panel comprised of ten panes within berried stiff-leaf mounted astragals above a fiddleback figured tablet within a lotus leaf and dart moulded surround, two of the panels with handles to the reverse, the other two panels with ormolu mounted vertical poles for the operation of the two pairs of doors, each panel very approximately: 297cm high x 63cm wide,

each overmantel mirror panel comprising a divided plate within a moulded surround, below a frieze mounted with a pair of opposing ormolu swans each with a foliate tail issuing scrolled acanthus and a rosette, flanking a central palmette and stylised foliate mount, the projecting volute scrolled corbel angles mounted with acanthus, husk pendants, sunflowers and palmettes, surmounted by an egg and leaf moulded cornice, each panel approximately: 245cm high x 144cm wide,

each polychrome decorated panel comprised of a painted canvas lined tablet depicting berried foliate pendants to the sides surmounted by scrolled ivy-fruiting foliage hung with ribbon tied trophies, one panel with acorn and oak leaf adorned farrier's tools and the other with an olive leaf embellished incense burner, with scrolled foliage and sunflower heads below surmounted by a star above an anthemion, each panel very approximately: 271cm high x 112cm wide, each above a small panel comprised of a moulded tablet mounted with two ribbon tied entwined laurel branches, each smaller panel approximately: 69cm wide x 111cm high, together with various later elements and later fittings including three mirrored panels each of differing proportions (19)
Footnotes:
Provenance
The offered boiseries were formerly installed as a room inside the Villa Les Pins, Eze, in France, which was home to Raymond Poincaré. Poincaré served as President of France during the period, 1913-1920.
Much later on this wall panelling sold Christie's, New York, 24 September 1998, Important French and Continental Furniture, lot 261.
It subsequently featured Christie's, London, 18 March 2004, 19th Century Furniture, lot 79 and was purchased by the current owner and vendor.

The present lot appears illustrated in C. Payne, European Furniture of the 19th Century, 2013, Woodbridge, pp.'s 266-267. The author comments therein that the producers of so called meubles de luxe, which tend to be items not typically classified as furniture, truly excelled at making intricate and impressive boiseries such as these.

The panels were executed by Bricard. He is documented as an ebeniste and miroitier with a workshop located at 9, rue Neuve-Guillemin from circa 1853 onwards. Bricard supplied a variety of this type of meuble de luxe for the famed 'Cottages' of Newport, Rhode Island, in the U.S., including among various others, for 'Chateau Sur Mer' and 'The Elms'.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TP
W Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.
TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.

For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.

The panels appear to have been carefully removed from their previous residence.
There are some minor repairs to the bottoms of the doors.
The surface finish is in generally good order, the only obvious signs of surface damage are where a moulding has been applied to the bottom edge of some panels.
The cornices for the two mirror panels appear to have been adapted at some point, possibly to allow them to fit into the previous room setting; this is evident due to numerous old nail fixing holes in the show wood and the adaption of a laminated construction of the carved moulding.
The corbels have most likely been a later addition, their raised gilt decoration being wooden and not ormolu.
The pair of polychrome painted panels have been joined to the lower smaller ormolu adorned panels at a later date and have since become detached from each other.

The dimensions for the three later mirrored panels included within this lot are:
One approximately - 307cm high x 52cm wide.
Another approximately - 307cm high x 42cm wide.
The largest one approximately - 307cm high x 98cm wide.