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47-478: A parlour (or parlor ) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessary conversation between resident members. In the English-speaking world of the 18th and 19th century, having a parlour room was evidence of social status. In

94-467: A convenient name for a second or further reception room, but no particular function is associated with the name. In 18th-century London, the royal morning receptions that the French called levées were called "drawing rooms", with the sense originally that the privileged members of court would gather in the drawing room outside the king's bedroom, where he would make his first formal public appearance of

141-454: A parlour due to its ability to cope with low light and cooler temperatures. The parlour was used for receptions on formal family occasions such as weddings, births and funerals . Some tradespeople used the parlour of their houses (or later houses bought specifically for business) in the service of their businesses. Hence, funeral parlours (for those who wished to lay out their deceased in a grander style than their own home), beauty parlours, and

188-428: A private washroom . Although Amtrak has retired its sleeping cars that were built with drawing rooms, they are still used by Via Rail Canada . The traditional nomenclature is seen as archaic, hence they are marketed as "triple bedrooms". The drawing room, being a room in the house to entertain visitors, gave its name to drawing room plays , a genre of theatrical productions and motion pictures . Beginning with

235-452: A privileged position at a cramped backdoor, the king's children, legitimate and illegitimate indiscriminately — in scandalous fashion Saint-Simon thought — and their spouses. The crowd in the chambre du Roi can be estimated from Saint-Simon's remark of the King's devotions, which followed: the King knelt at his bedside "where all the clergy present knelt, the cardinals without cushions, all

282-473: A room in which to relax. Hence the drawing room is the smartest room in the house, usually used by the adults of the family when entertaining. This term is widely used in India and Pakistan , probably dating from the colonial days, in the larger urban houses of the cities where there are many rooms. The term parlour initially designated the more modest reception rooms of the middle classes, but usage changed in

329-652: A short wig. The Grand Chamberlain of France or, in his absence, the Chief Gentleman of the Bedchamber presented holy water to the king from a vase that stood at the head of the bed and the king's morning clothes were laid out. First, the Master of the Bedchamber and the First Servant, both high nobles, pulled the king's nightshirt over his head, one grasping each sleeve. The Grand Chamberlain presented

376-399: A visit from a cousin. The second scene of William Hogarth 's A Rake's Progress shows a male equivalent in 1730s London. In the French engraving Le Lever after Freudenberg, of the 1780s, gentle social criticism is levelled at the lady of the court; that she slept without unlacing her stays, apparently, perhaps can be seen as artistic licence. Her maids dress her with deference, while

423-569: Is a citizen of the United States has a right to as free an admission as any other man; and it would be a dignity added to the White House if such were seen there. Abraham Lincoln held a levee on New Year's Eve 1862. The ceremony at Versailles has been described in detail by Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon . Louis XIV was a creature of habit and the inflexible routine that tired or irritated his heirs served him well. Wherever

470-483: Is also sometimes called the " comedy of manners ". Oscar Wilde 's 1895 The Importance of Being Earnest and several of the plays of Noël Coward are typical works of the genre. George Bernard Shaw 's 1919 Heartbreak House adds an undercurrent of social criticism to the genre. Cary Grant appeared in a number of filmed drawing-room comedies. Ernst Lubitsch was especially known as a director of drawing room comedies. Lev%C3%A9e (ceremony) The levee (from

517-708: The Southern United States . In 1865, an architectural manual in England defined "drawing room" in this way: This is the Lady's Apartment, essentially, being the modern form of the Lady's Withdrawing-room , otherwise the Parlour , or perfected Chamber of mediaeval plan. If a Morning-room be not provided, it is properly the only Sitting-room of the family. In it in any case the ladies receive calls throughout

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564-405: The cloister , were allowed to converse without disturbing their fellows. The "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery. It was generally located in the west range of the buildings of the cloister, close to the main entrance. The "inner parlour" was located off the cloister next to the chapter house in the east range of the monastery and

611-818: The drawing room in British countries. Despite its decline in domestic architecture, the term parlour continues to have an afterlife in its second meaning as nomenclature for various commercial enterprises. In addition to " funeral parlour " and " beauty parlour " (mentioned above), it is also common to say "betting parlour", " billiard parlour ", " ice cream parlor ", " pizza parlour ", " massage parlour ", " tattoo parlour " and " cafe parlor ". Less common uses include "beer parlour", "wine parlour", "spaghetti parlour", and "coffee parlour". The dialect-specific usage of this English term instead of another (i.e., as opposed to "ice cream shoppe" or " pizzeria ") varies by region. Reception room In modern houses, it may be used as

658-812: The British Empire, such as the Viceroy of India , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , governors general and state/provincial governors / lieutenant governors . The ceremonial event continues to be held in a number of Commonwealth countries. The New Year's levee is still held on New Year's Day in Canada, by the Governor General of Canada , the lieutenant governors , the Canadian Armed Forces , and various municipalities across

705-406: The British monarch, attended only by gentlemen, was shifted back towards noon. The practice of holding court levées was continued by the British monarchy until 1939. These took the form of a formal reception at St James's Palace at which officials, diplomats, and military officers of all three armed services, were presented individually to the sovereign. A form of civil uniform known as Levée dress

752-537: The French word lever , meaning "getting up" or "rising") was traditionally a daily moment of intimacy and accessibility to a monarch or leader, as he got up in the morning. It started out as a royal custom, but in British America it came to refer to a reception by the sovereign's representative, which continues to be a tradition in Canada with the New Year's levee ; in the United States a similar gathering

799-564: The Judges of the Supreme Court; the majority of the members of both Houses of Congress; and intermingled with these, the plainest farmers, storekeepers, and mechanics, with their primitive wives and simple daughters. Some looked merry; some looked busy; but none bashful. I believe there were three thousand persons present. There was one deficiency,—one drawback, as I felt at the time. There were no persons of colour ... Every man of colour who

846-476: The King, who parcelled out his attention with strict regard for the current standing of those closest to him. With the entry of the King into the Grande Galerie , where the rest of the court awaited him, the petit lever was finished, and with the grand lever the day was properly begun, as the king proceeded to daily Mass, sharing brief words as he progressed and even receiving some petitions. It

893-536: The UK as homeowners sought to identify with the grander homes of the wealthy. Parlor remained the common usage in North America into the early 20th century. In French usage the word salon , previously designating a state room , began to be used for a drawing room in the early part of the 19th century, reflecting the salon social gatherings that had become popular in the preceding decades. The term drawing room

940-555: The country. By the 1760s, the custom was being copied by the colonial governors in British America , but was abandoned in the United States following the American Revolutionary War . Beginning in 1789, President George Washington and First Lady Martha Washington held weekly public gatherings and receptions at the presidential mansion that were called levees. Designed to give the public access to

987-399: The day shirt which, according to Saint-Simon, had been shaken out and sometimes changed, because the king perspired freely. This was a moment for any of those with the privilege of the grande entrée to have a swift private word with the king, which would have been carefully rehearsed beforehand to express a request as deferentially as possible while also being as brief as possible. The King

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1034-403: The day, and the family and their guests assemble before dinner. After dinner the ladies withdraw to it, and are joined by the gentlemen for the evening. It is also the reception room for evening parties. There is only one kind of drawing room as regards purpose: there is little difference, except in size and evidence of opulence, between that of the duchess and that of the simplest gentlewoman in

1081-657: The day. During the American Civil War , in the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia , the drawing room was off the parlor where CSA President Jefferson Davis greeted his guests. At the conclusion of these greetings, the men remained in the parlor to talk politics and the women withdrew to the drawing room for their own conversation. This was common practice in the affluent circles of

1128-593: The director of the Menus Plaisirs , that part of the royal establishment in charge of all preparations for ceremonies, events and festivities, to the last detail of design and order. At the entrée de la chambre were admitted the Grand Aumônier and the Marshal of France and the king's ministers and secretaries. A fifth entrée now admitted ladies for the first time, and a sixth entrée admitted, from

1175-473: The donning of their uncomfortable formal clothes, and whose hair and perhaps make-up needed prolonged attention. There is a famous depiction of the levée of an 18th-century Viennese lady of the court in Richard Strauss 's later opera Der Rosenkavalier , where she has her hair dressed while surrounded by a disorderly crowd of tradesmen touting for work or payment, and other petitioners, followed by

1222-556: The early 13th century, parlor originally referred to a room where monks could go to talk, derived from the Old French word parloir or parler ("to speak"), it entered the English language around the turn of the 16th century. The first known use of the word to denote a room was in medieval Christian Europe, when it designated the two rooms in a monastery where clergy, constrained by vow or regulation from speaking otherwise in

1269-536: The early forms of drama, the drawing room play has evolved to encompass comedy as well as to include the forms of the dramatic monologue. The play format itself has also grown out of the traditional drawing room performance and back into main street theater and film. While the drawing room itself has fallen out of favor, the play format has continued to provide a source of entertainment. Drawing room comedy typically features wit and verbal banter among wealthy, leisured, genteel, upper class characters. Drawing room comedy

1316-454: The gentlemen rejoined the ladies in the drawing room. The term drawing room is not used as widely as it once was, and tends to be used in Britain only by those who also have other reception rooms, such as a morning room, a 19th-century designation for a sitting room , often with east-facing exposure, suited for daytime calls, or the middle-class lounge , a late-19th-century designation for

1363-464: The king had actually slept, he was discovered sleeping in the close-curtained state bed standing in its alcove, which was separated from the rest of the chambre du roi by a gilded balustrade. He was woken at eight o'clock by his head valet de chambre — Alexandre Bontemps held this post for most of the reign—who alone had slept in the bedchamber. The chief physician, the chief surgeon and Louis' childhood nurse, as long as she lived, all entered at

1410-469: The king had often risen early and put in some hours hunting before returning to bed for the start of the lever . Louis's grandson, King Philip V of Spain , and his queen typically spent all morning in bed, as reported by Saint-Simon, to avoid the pestering by ministers and courtiers that began with the lever. The king's retiring ceremony proceeded in reverse order and was known as the coucher . The successors of Louis XIV were not as passionate about

1457-426: The laity remaining standing". The King then passed into the cabinet where all those who possessed any court office attended him. He then announced what he expected to do that day and was left alone with those among his favourites of the royal children born illegitimately (whom he had publicly recognised and legitimated ) and a few favourites, with the valets. These were less pressing moments to discuss projects with

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1504-470: The like. In the 20th century, the increasing use of the telephone and automobiles, as well as the increasing casualness of society, led to the decline of formal reception rooms in domestic architecture in English-speaking countries. The secondary functions of the parlour for entertaining and display were taken up by various kinds of sitting rooms, such as the living room in North American usage and

1551-402: The monarch's daily routine and, over time, the frequency of the lever and coucher decreased, much to the dismay of their courtiers. When the court of Charles II of England adopted the custom, first noted as an English usage in 1672, it was called a levée . In the 18th century, as the fashionable dinner hour was incrementally moved later into the afternoon, the morning reception of

1598-474: The neighborhood. ... In size , a small drawing room will be about 16 feet wide by from 18 to 20 feet long: 18 by 24 feet is a good size: 20 by 30 to 26 by 40 is enough for a very superior apartment. Until the mid-twentieth century, after a dinner the ladies of a dinner party withdrew to the drawing room, leaving the gentlemen at table, where the tablecloth was removed. After an interval of conversation, often accompanied by brandy or port and sometimes cigars,

1645-417: The parlour was the room in which the larger world encountered the private sphere of middle class life (the family's face to the world) it was invariably the best room (it was often colloquially called that) in the home. The parlour frequently displayed a family's best furnishings , works of art and other status symbols. Chamaedorea elegans , parlour palm, was one of several houseplants regularly grown in

1692-413: The president and to project a dignified public image of the presidency, they were continued by John and Abigail Adams , but not by Thomas Jefferson . English writer Harriet Martineau , after witnessing a White House levee during the second term of Andrew Jackson 's presidency, remarked on how egalitarian the levee was in every respect but one: I saw one ambassador after another enter with his suite;

1739-411: The rest of the home. Although aristocratic homes might have state rooms , the frequent name for this reception room among the emerging middle classes (not likely to host state functions or royalty) was the "parlour". In the English-speaking world of the 18th and 19th century, having a parlour room was evidence of social status. It was proof that one had risen above those who lived in one or two rooms. As

1786-563: The same time, and the nurse kissed him. The night chamberpot was removed. Then the curtains of the bed were drawn once again and, at a quarter past eight, the Grand Chamberlain was called, bringing with him the nobles who had the privilege of the grande entrée , a privilege that could be purchased, subject to the king's approval, but which was restricted in Louis' time to the nobles. The King remained in bed, in his nightshirt and

1833-444: The sixteenth century, it had become a formal event, requiring invitation. In 1563 Catherine de' Medici wrote in advice to her son, the King of France, to do as his father ( Henry II ) had done and uphold the practice of lever . Catherine describes that Henry II allowed his subjects, from nobles to household servants, to come in while he dressed. She states this pleased his subjects and improved their opinion of him. This practice

1880-443: Was given a missal and the gentlemen retired into the adjoining chambre du conseil (the "council chamber") while there was a brief private prayer for the King. When the King had them recalled, now accompanied by those who had the lesser privilege of the première entrée , his process of dressing began. Louis preferred to dress himself "for he did almost everything himself, with address and grace", Saint-Simon remarked. The King

1927-479: Was handed a dressing-gown, and a mirror was held for him, for he had no toilet table like ordinary gentlemen. Every other day the King shaved himself. Now, other privileged courtiers were admitted, a few at a time, at each stage, so that, as the King was putting on his shoes and stockings, "everyone" — in Saint-Simon's view — was there. This was the entrée de la chambre , which included the king's readers and

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1974-467: Was held by several presidents. In Einhard 's Life of Charlemagne , the author recounts the Emperor's practice, when he was dressing and putting on his shoes, to invite his friends to come in and, in case of a dispute brought to his attention, "he would order the disputants to be brought in there and then, hear the case as if he were sitting in tribunal and pronounce a judgement." By the second half of

2021-433: Was historically also applied to certain passenger train accommodations, designating some of the most spacious and expensive private accommodations available on board a sleeping car or private railroad car . An example, named as such, was a Midland Railway "Drawing Room Car" in 1874 that was made by Pullman and imported from the United States. In North America , it meant a room which slept three or more persons, with

2068-407: Was of these occasions that the King habitually remarked, in refusing a favour asked for some noble, "We never see him", meaning that he did not spend enough time at Versailles, where Louis wanted to keep the nobility penned up, to prevent them interesting themselves in politics. Among the aristocracy, the levée could also become a crowded and social occasion, especially for women, who liked to put off

2115-433: Was raised to a ceremonial custom at the court of King Louis XIV . In the court etiquette that Louis formalised, the set of extremely elaborate conventions was divided into the grand lever , attended by the full court in the gallery outside the king's bedchamber, and the petit lever that transpired in degrees in the king's chamber, where only a very select group might serve the king as he rose and dressed. In fact,

2162-424: Was used for necessary conversation between resident members. It was the function of the "outer parlour" as the public antechamber of the monastery that was adapted into domestic architecture. In the early modern period homes became larger and concepts of privacy evolved as material prosperity was more widely shared. Rooms were increasingly set aside for the reception of guests and other visitors, screening them from

2209-531: Was worn by those entitled to it, or else naval or military uniform, or court dress . Participants formed a queue in the Throne Room before stepping forward when their names and ranks were called. Each then bowed to the king who was seated on a dais with male members of his family, officials of the Royal Household and senior officers behind him. Levée ceremonies were held by regal representatives of

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