It strikes me as a container for British-style puddings.

I can see it looking kind of like a steeple mould. It certainly isn’t as fancy as the ones made by Wedgewood and Staffordshire potteries but the shape is the same.

“these moulds were known as steeple moulds. They started life in the 17th century when cooks moulded blancmanges called steeple creams in the conical wine glasses of the day. In the 18th century, Josiah Wedgewood started making moulds. They remained popular during the nineteenth century and were still being made in the early 1900s by Spode. The reason for their popularity is the hilarity which the unmoulded blancmanges or jellies caused. The stepped cone creates a very unstable jelly which wobbles in a rather suggestive and amusing way.”

I'm going to have to agree with Elmer on this, I think maybe it's just a hoax!

Shaving mug? Do they ever have lids?

fake newz, nyuk

make a cute flower holder

I showed it to my daughter who has( and sells) many English molds. She says it looks like a jelly mold. She doesn’t have that one, but has some that look very close to it.

I'm going to have to with Elmer on this, I think maybe it's just a hoax!

Yes, but it is so much fun to hear all the guesses! I could post a whole bunch of my sewing or knitting projects and we’d be here all day trying to guess what I was trying to make. 😀

"I showed it to my daughter who has( and sells) many English molds."

greenshoekitty, did she mention if the lid was unusual?

Leave it to the fudd character to add something positive to an interesting problem.

Some of them do, but not many Cholebud

If it's 2" tall, then salt and pepper, If it's 4", then two different condiments. All served with small spoons.

Methinks it’s an apothecary piece used during a medical procedure where the assistant holds the handles with both hands, presenting to the doc who attends on a patient. the lid and the shape suggest a container of liquid/tinctures used in the treatments. That shade of ceramic white could be seen on other apothecary pieces such as mortar and pestle.

It doesn't look like a jelly mould to me. I've never seen one with handles And the inside,as far as we can see, doesn't have a pattern moulded into it. It looks rough. Does your daughter have any with handles, chloebud? If you filled it you’d end up with two connected cones with bumpy outsides.

And I still disagree on condiments and spoons. The lids would have cut outs for the spoon handles And each side would have a separate lid Imo.

I still think it’s something medical. If it is a hoax it’s still an existing object. So what is it? I do wish the OP would contribute.

What do you want her to contribute? She saw it, clearly doesn’t know what it is or anything more about it, can’t find it again.

”And I still disagree on condiments and spoons. The lids would have cut outs for the spoon handles And each side would have a separate lid Imo.”

Agreed.

And I disagree with the medical thing. If two substances are to be kept separate but yet held with two hands, why have them in one container where they could so easily contaminate each other.

I also agree that it's most probably for medical purposes and although it appears to be porcelain may actually be enameled metal.

I must apologise to the OP. I didn’t spot that she’d said she couldn’t find the Facebook item again. I thought she’d just gone silent.

How about a receptacle for milking a nanny goat? 😉

With two handles, it reminds me of a sugar bowl. I wonder if it is for two different types of lump sugar? You wouldn’t mind so much if they mix. And the cover wouldnt need holes for the spoons because you use tongs for lumps.

My husband suggested it was a coffee mug for someone who could talk out both sides of their mouth. If they could do that, why not drink out both sides as well? 😀

It's a set of binoculars for a Private Detective . The lens are in the bottom. If he feels someone is also watching him, he can pretend he is

drinking something from it. The Lid is to keep the lens covered when not

in use and make it look more like a novelty coffee cup. His ad says, "The

Coffee Man Can Catch Your Man" Or, maybe I watch too many Detective movies?

Could be a fly bonnet, hard hat style.

I went back to Facebook to the original post and there is no information on this thing, no one is sure what it is. I do believe its real but what is it really used for?

I still think that with the assumption that it is over 100 years old be a sickroom or nursery item used to feed someone. The offset handles would make it easier to place the arm around a person so the cup could be in front of the person being fed while the other hand spooned food into them. From my reading both invalids and very small children were given small portions. I have also wondered given the size of the base if it was meant to be slid inside another container to perhaps keep things warm, Houses of that time were often cold.

It's just odd it doesn't pop up somewhere through google searches. I think I've run out of descriptions.

I posted the link to this thread over on the Antiques forum. Maybe someone there will know?

Good idea, maddielee!

Beer with a chaser.

Just had a thought, and someone else likely already mentioned this, but it might be custom restaurant serveware for a duo of special sauces or something similar...

I also posted it on Facebook to the public

Maybe a cup for Siamese twins?

Arm wrestling drink cup. It should also have separate cups that sit inside that, and they are missing. Nicer sets have both glass and stainless inserts- old school ones have tiny drinking horns, silver or pewter (or occasionally gold for higher entertainment winners cups) or carved stone. Even leather for traveling sets and training. The vessel is brought to the table with the lid on and the contents are revealed to the contestants at the table.

At the table, lid off. Contestants each take a handle with their off hand, and manage not to spill or break the cup during the wrestling match with their good hands. Winner might be rights to have both cups- or force the other to have them both :)

Extra points for doing the flaming drink challenge. Can also be used for food challenges.

The example in the OP is a training cup, or a first challenge kind of set. That's why it's fine on the outside, yet a bit crude on the inside. Likely had a pair of cups each in leather or even wood for soft learning and maybe a glass or metal set for more challenge.

Edit to add- if that scale is small, it might be a thumb or wrist wrestling set, hehhee.

Made for someone to put their pair of glass eyes in at night? HA! That idea just popped into my head.

I thought of a use for it at a bordello👿, but I will not describe it because it is too gross🤢.

the glass eye holder was already on this list. Good one though!

I threw this out to the folks on a travel forum I frequent. They are having fun trying to guess too. One poster recommended this site:

reddit - what is this thing

Latest guess is an egg coddler. Not my guess, somebody else's, but I looked egg coddler up and it's just possible.

My guess! At the breakfast table for Jam/jelly, white sugar/brown sugar.

When I saw the pic, I know I have seen something similar somewhere and I'm thinking it was Homegoods. It struck me as odd and now I wish I had inquired. I don't think it had a lid. This was probably a year ago.

All the suggestions for two different things eg jams, sugars, condiments don’t take into account the single lid. If it was two separate items I’d expect it to have two separate lids to avoid cross contamination when spooning out the contents. I’ve seen a lot of egg coddlers but never one like this. For starters the lid’s clearly not watertight and it usually has to be submerged to coddle an egg. And, again, why the double container and single lid? One egg would be going cold while you ate the other. Of course, there’s always the chance that it’s just really badly designed for its function. Maybe that’s why not many were made and we’ve never seen one 😉

I think for lump sugar (say, white and rock) it would work. Covered when not in use. Lumps tend not to fall into the wrong side, and if they do it’s A) not a big deal and B) easy to fix.

To me, it looks like something that is meant to be passed from one person to another. I think it's for salt and pepper. Covered when not in use.

Darn...another day with no answer!

I can't imagine that that was meant to be used a the table - it's plum ugly.

it is a speak piece ... everyone talks about it, but nobody knows

There are some pretty "colorful" guesses over on that travel forum involving body parts. hmmm.

Did anyone post it on Reddit?

I'm not aware if anyone posted it on Reddit.

I went there (Reddit) but don't know how to post it, can someone do it for me?

isn't that the thing madonna 'wore upstairs' in the 80s-90s?

Ewww bragu, no. Even back then Madonna had better taste for her upstairs encasements that the OP vessel.

what is a OP vessel?