IMPROVEMENTS IN WINE GLASSES, AND IN STANDS OR HOLDERS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Murdoch Napier, of York Road, Lambeth,
in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINE
GLASSES, AND IN STANDS OR HOLDERS FOR THE SAME,"
Sealed the 5th September 1865, and dated the 11th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Murdoch Napier
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th March 1865.
I, JAMES MURDOCH NAPIER, of York Road, Lambeth, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WINE GLASSES, AND IN STANDS OR HOLDERS FOR THE SAME," to be
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in wine glasses, and in
stands or holders for the same. It is well known that wine glasses as at
present made are furnished with a foot or base, attached by a stem to the
cup or goblet which contains the liquid, the foot or base being proportioned in
size so as to support the wine glass when placed upon the table, and secure it
as far as possible against being overturned. But the necessarily large size of
the foot or base referred to prevents the hand of the person using the wine
glass from freely and firmly holding it by the stem; and if the stem is made
long to accommodate the hand, the foot or base of the wine glass must be

page_text: enlarged to secure a proper support for it when it is placed upon the table,
which enlargement of the foot or base will still inconvenience the user, and
owing to the increased beight of the wine glass it will be more liable than
before to be overturned and broken. To provide therefore a wine glass which
may be more conveniently and safely handled, and not so liable to be over-
turned as the wine glass now in common use, I construct my improved wine
glasses without the usual foot or base, and instead thereof I provide suitable
stands or holders for them, which stands or holders are each to be placed upon
the table near the person who is to use it, and who can readily remove the
wine glass from its stand or holder to imbibe its contents and replace it.
My improved stands or holders may be constructed to contain one or more
wine glasses, according to the variety of wines it may be desired to present,
the bottom portion of the stands or holders being made of dimensions and
weight sufficient to ensure their stability and the security of the wine glasses
which they contain. The modes of arranging the stands or holders so as to
receive and support the wine glasses conveniently and securely may be varied,
but in general 1 prefer to provide for each wine glass a supporting seat or
hollow in the stand or holder to suit the bottom of the cup or goblet portion
of the wine glass, a side opening being left for the stem to pass through,
mewhat after the plan of the rack used on board ships for the common
wine glass.
In cases where my improved stand or bolder is constructed to contain more
than one wine glass, I make that portion in which they are held so that it
may be turned round with ease along with the wine glasses, while the bottom
and supporting part of the stand or holder remains stationary. By this means
any wine glass in the stand or holder may with great facility be brought
round to the position desired by the person using the same.
My improved. wine glasses may be made of any convenient form or pattern,
and of clear or colored glass, or of glass of various colors, and may be plain or
ornamented with cutting and engraving, and otherwise, according to taste.
The stands or holders may also be made simple or elaborate, in design and
finish, and of any suitable materials, from the most inexpensive to the most
costly, conformable to the taste and means, of the purchaser.
By the use of my Invention the laying and clearing. of: wine glasses from a
table may be. more expeditiously and safely accomplished, as the group for
each person can be. placed and taken away together in the stand, or holder.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Murdoch Napier in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MURDOCH NAPIER, of York Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Murdoch Napier, Her special licence that I, the said James Murdoch
Napier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Murdoch Napier, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN WINE GLASSES, AND IN STANDS OR HOLDERS FOR THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Murdoch Napier, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Murdoch Napier, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in wine glasses and in stands
or holders for the same. It is well known that wine glasses as at present made
are furnished with a foot or base attached by a stem to the cup or goblet
which contains the liquid, the foot or base being proportioned in size' so as to
support the wine glass when placed upon the table, and secure it as far as
possible against being overturned. But the necessarily large size of the foot or
base referred to prevents the hand of the person using the wine glass from
freely and firmly holding it by the stem; and if the stem is made long to
accommodate the hand the foot or base of the wine glass must be enlarged to

page_text: secure a proper support for it when it is placed upon the table, which enlarge-
ment of the foot or base will still inconvenience the user, and owing to the
increased height of the wine glass it will be more liable than before to be
overturned and broken. To provide, therefore, a wine glass which may be more
conveniently and safely handled, and not so liable to be overturned as the wine
glass now in common use, I construct my improved wine glasses without the
usual foot or base, and instead thereof I provide suitable stands or holders
for them, which stands or holders are each to be placed upon the table near
the person who is to use it, and who can readily remove the wine glass from
its stand or holder to imbibe its contents and replace it. My improved stands
or holders may be constructed to contain one or more wine glasses, according
to the variety of wines it may be desired to present, the bottom portion of the
stands or holders being made of dimensions and weight sufficient to ensure
their stability and the security of the wine glasses which they contain. The
modes of arranging the stands or holders so as to receive and support the wine
glasses conveniently and securely may be varied, but in general I prefer to
provide for each wine glass a supporting seat or hollow in the stand or holder
to suit the bottom of the cup or goblet portion of the wine glass, a side
opening being left for the stem to pass through, somewhat after the plan of the
rack used on board ships for the common wine glass.
In cases where my improved stand or holder is constructed to contain more
than one wine glass, I make that portion in which they are held so that it
may be turned round with ease along with the wine glasses, while the bottom
and supporting part of the stand or holder remains stationary. By this means
any wine glass in the stand or holder may with great facility be brought round
to the position desired by the person using the same.
My improved wine glasses may be made of any convenient form or pattern,
and of clear or colored glass, or of glass of various colors, and may be plain
or ornamented with cutting and engraving, and otherwise, according to taste.
The stands or holders may also be made simple or elaborate in design and
finish, and of any suitable materials, from the most inexpensive to the most
costly, conformable to the taste and means of the purchaser.
By the use of my Invention the laying and clearing of wine glasses from a
table may be more expeditiously and safely accomplished, as the group for
each person can be placed and taken away together in the stand or holder.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent various views of one of my stands or

page_text: places; and Figures 5 and 6 represent in elevation and plan one of my stands
or holders designed for one wine glass, with the wine glass in its place.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, E is the base of the stand or holder; (a) is a
rod or stem, which at its lower end is fixed into the base E, and at its upper
end at. (b) is screwed to receive the lower end of the handle F, which screws
into it, and binds the washer (c) between the top of the rod (a) and the
shoulder provided just above the screw at the end of the handle I'; G is a
tube, which is fitted at the ends so that it will turn freely round the rod (a).
Upon the upper end of the tube G is fixed the frame or support H, which is
formed with openings (d) and seats (e) for five of my wine glasses L; these
are seen resting in their seats (e), and their stems (j) hang downwards. It
will be understood that as the frame or support H is fixed to the tube G (which
is free to turn round the rod a), it may, along with the wine glasses it contains,
be turned round at pleasure, while the base E remains stationary. The tube G
rests and turns upon the base E at (9), and is kept from being raised
independently of the base by the washer (c).
In Figures 5 and 6, K is the base, with support L rising from it; M is a
branch with seat (h) and opening (i); N is the wine glass resting in seat h;
O is the handle by which the stand is carried.
I would wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
particular construction of my stands or holders shown in the Drawings, or to
the mode there shewn of arranging the parts so as to allow of the free rotation
of the seats or supports of the wine glasses, as they may be varied. Although
I have shewn in the Drawings stands for receiving and supporting one wine
glass and five wine glasses, it will be evident that stands of similar character
may be made for receiving and supporting other numbers of wine glasses.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Murdoch Napier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES M. NAPIER. (L.S.)