Semper Augustus was a famous tulip, and the craze for tulips that swept Holland in the first half of the seventeenth century carried its name with it. The cloth takes both: curved branches carrying heavy tulip heads, in the manner of baroque ornament.
Brocatelle is the right construction for that. The figure is pushed into relief by a densely packed warp over a heavy linen binding weft, so the ornament stands up from the satin ground as a change of surface rather than a change of colour, and it keeps that relief under compression. 30,000 Martindale and Rubelli rates it for upholstery, which is unusual for a design this decorative. The horizontal repeat is only 11.7 cm, so it works on a small chair without losing the drawing. Nine colourways, 140 cm wide, made in Italy.
