This is one of about twenty known "Amen" glasses, four of which are in the Museum. They are so-called from the prominent "Amen" inscribed after the verses of a prayer for the restoration of the Scottish Stuart dynasty to the throne of Britain. Since the deposition of James II (James VII of Scotland) in 1688, the British had been divided between the Jacobites (Roman Catholic and Tory supporters of the Stuarts) and the Protestant Whigs, who wanted to maintain a Protestant ruler on the throne. There were several unsuccessful attempts to reinstate the Stuarts, from James Edward (1688 - 1766), son of James II and popularly named the Old Pretender, to his son Charles Edward (1720 - 1788), the Young Pretender, or Bonnie Prince Charlie. The latter, and the cause, were finally defeated at the battle of Culloden Moor in 1746.

All these glasses bear the same verses, the crown and cipher JR 8 (Jacobus Rex VIII), and scrollwork decoration, engraved with a diamond point; some have an added inscription to the Old Pretender's second son, Henry. Their inscriptions and provenance from leading Highland Scottish families (this glass was from Drummond Castle, Perthshire) show that the engravings must have been commissioned as an affirmation of loyalty to the Stuarts (the majority of loyalists were Highland Scots), although the glasses are of a type produced in Newcastle in England. The similar formal decoration and neatly engraved script suggest that they were the work of one person, perhaps a Scottish metal engraver. Of the dated "Amen" glasses, the earliest is from 1743 and the latest, 1749. Betty Elzea, from Guides to European Decorative Arts: Glass (1984), p. 30.