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A 1699 Act of Parliament required measures used for the sale of ale and beer to be marked with a crown and the letters WR (for William III), to indicate that they were accurate. This requirement evolved so that by the late 19th century, measures were verified by an Inspector of Weights and Measures from the local authority, and then marked with the royal cypher and a number representing the authority. More recently wine by the glass has become popular and so wine glasses were also included in the requirements. By the 1980's improved manufacturing techniques meant the need to test every glass seemed outdated and so the law was changed to allow manufacturers to batch test glasses and apply their own mark. Most wine was sold in metric quantities by then, but imperial quantities were still legal and so a relatively small number of imperial glasses were made. My 5 fl.oz. glass is one of these, made by Dema Glass at Chesterfield, their name being their approved mark. The experiment was not a success and the requirements reverted back to the previous regime. By 2000, EU rules had replaced UK ones with metric only and verification by the manufacturer, almost a reversion to 1699.