The ogee, the double curve that forms a pointed oval, is the structural device behind most Gothic Revival wallpaper, and Floral Kingdom uses it, though loosely. The frame is made of knotted, twisting leaves rather than of a hard drawn line, so the compartments soften and the pattern breathes where a strict Revival paper would be rigid.
Inside them are the four national flowers of the United Kingdom: the daffodil for Wales, the rose for England, the bursting rosette of the thistle for Scotland and the shamrock sprig for Northern Ireland. It is a conceit that could easily have become heraldic and does not, because the flowers are drawn botanically and at the same scale as the foliage around them. The 76 cm repeat on a wide 0.69 m roll gives the ogee room to complete itself, and the straight match keeps the framework aligned across the drops.
Rooms with some height show it properly, since the pattern is architectural in its structure and reads best where there is enough wall to take in two or three repeats. A dining room, a hall with a good staircase, a drawing room with a decent cornice. Hung against dark-stained joinery and plain heavy curtains it looks like something that has always been there.
