Born in a family of bankers, Ernest Boiceau received training in
Munich, then studied drawing, painting and architecture at the
École des Beaux Arts in Paris. From 1900 to 1910, he traveled and painted landscapes and portraits. Starting in the 1910s, Boiceau dedicated himself to
embroidery,
passementerie and upholstery in his workshop, rue des Moulins in Paris, working initially for fashion houses and theatre costume designers. In 1912 he collaborated with John Jacobson on a
tapestry exhibited at the
Galliera museum in Paris. At the beginning of the
war, in 1914, he organised a branch of the Swiss committee to help Belgian refugees. In 1920, he opened a boutique on the
Avenue de l'Opéra, by that time, his exquisitely refined work as an embroiderer had become renowned. He supplied embroidered, beaded or sequined theatrical costumes for various venues like the
opera, the
Comédie-Française' theater and Parisian revues such as the
Folies Bergère or
Moulin Rouge. He also worked for master couturiers like
Edward Molyneux or
Worth. In 1924, he started creating objects and furniture in stately neoclassical style, and completed his first tapestry. In 1928, he opened a new office dedicated to
interior decoration on rue Pierre Charron in Paris. He patented the Point de Cornely, an embroidery stitch derived from Emile Cornely's research in 1865, and began to apply this technique to his own creations in 1924–1925. Until 1935, he created objects, lighting, furniture made of rare wood species such as macassar,
amaranth,
sycamore or
arecaceae sometimes with
ivory or
ebony inlays, as well as sumptuous carpets woven and embellished with Point de Cornely. Boiceau became very sought after, he then opened another shop on Avenue Matignon and decided to devote himself entirely to decoration. He deeded the embroidery workshop to his employees, who in turn created an embroidery and fashion accessories company named
Felix and company. He worked with designers and architects in vogue at the time such as
Elsie de Wolfe,
David Adler and his sister
Frances Adler Elkins among others, offering his own designs created in rich and varied materials including colored glass, light colored leather and
bronze. Among Boiceau's distinguished clients were
Princess Bibesco, B. Boutet de Monvel,
Louis Cartier, Mrs.
Fenwick,
Harold Macmillan,
Cécile Sorel, the two brothers writers
Jérôme Tharaud and
Jean Tharaud,
Louise de Vilmorin, Mr.
Wendel and Jean-Charles Worth. and died in the
Vallée de Chevreuse (
Essonne), not far from Paris in 1950. == Collection ==