A parlour in 1790
As a room for entertaining this room would have been kept spotless, light and bright to impress guests. Activity in the room was set by strict social guidelines around propriety and decency.
Photograph by Em Fitzgerald
What's happening
It is early in the evening and the family who live here are entertaining some relatives who also live in London, and a close family friend.
Everyone is full from dinner, which was served at about 5pm, and they have settled down to play cards. If they are peckish later, they may take tea and have some supper.
Earlier in the day the mistress of the house went shopping in Carnaby Market in Soho, London, to buy fruit and vegetables, fish, and poultry for dinner.
She is in charge of the day-to-day management of the household spending and when she returned she logged her spending in her daily accounts book.
Objects to look out for
Object number L 844
Table, 1780s
Tables were lightweight so they could be kept folded away and brought out as needed. The central table was used for playing card games like whist and cribbage, a fashionable choice for hosts planning party games.
Mirror, c.1790
Mirrors became more widely available in the 1700s and were useful for reflecting light from candles within a room.
Object number 5/2009-2
Decanter, c.1790
It is very rare to find blue glass from this era. The date of around 1790 is based on the shape, which was produced for around 10 to 15 years.