Information AboutLivery |
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| middle ages | |
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s wear white hart ( Deer ) badges, with the personal livery of King Richard II Of England , who commissioned this, the Wilton diptych, about 1400]] A livery is a Uniform or other sign worn in a non-military context on a person or object (such as an Airplane or Vehicle ) to denote a relationship with a person or corporate body, often by using elements of the Heraldry relating to that person or body, or a personal Emblem , and normally given by them. It derives from the French ''livrée'', meaning ''delivered''. Most often it would indicate that the person was a servant, dependent, follower or friend or the owner of the livery, or, for objects, that the object belonged to them. ETYMOLOGY In the 1300s, "livery" referred to an allowance of any kind (for instance the city of Exeter in Devon , England has a street called ''"Livery Dole"'' after the ''Livery Dole Almshouse s and Chapel'', founded in March 1591), but especially clothes ''delivered'' to servants and members of the household. Such things might be kept in a " Livery Cupboard ." The term is also used to describe badges to sew onto their clothes.Jonathan Alexander & Paul Binski (eds), ''Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400'', Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London 1987, Cat 448 In the 15th century European royalty sometimes distributed uniform suits of clothes to courtiers, as the House of Fugger , the leading bankers, did to all employees. Georges Duby ed.,''A History of Private Life, Vol 2 Revelations of the Medieval World'', 1988 (English translation), p.578, Belknap Press, Harvard U The sense later contracted to servants' rations and distinctive standardized outfits, often in a colour-scheme distinctive to the family, like the Coat s worn by Footmen in Grand Houses until World War I , and to Provender for Horses , from which we have inherited " Livery Stable " (1705) {Link without Title} . MODERN USAGE From this core meaning, multiple extended or specialist meanings have derived. Examples include:
The term is now rarely if ever applied in a military context, so it would be unusual for "livery" to refer to a Military Uniform or the painting of a military vehicle. Early uniforms were however regarded as a form of livery ("the King's coat") in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. REFERENCES |
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