All Intensive Purposes

From their invention until the beginning of the nineteenth century, [wine] glasses were used mainly by royalty and principally on special occasions. The purchase of a single wineglass was considered a serious investment, and at the most prestigious banquets, one glass might be shared by several dinner guests. If the host was especially wealthy, the banquet glasses might include some intentionally designed with a rounded bottom and no stem. Such glasses made a party livelier since only cups that had been drained of their contents could be put down lest the liquid tumble out.

// posted by t.s. @ 4:37 PM