It is brass, weighs approx. 3.5 lbs, is 5” - 7.5cm tall, measures 3” - 7.5cm across the top and 4” - 10cm across the bottom.
Hi and WELCOME to the Forums, @Squijal!!!!! It kind of looks like some sort of little pump, but totally not sure!!! Does it come apart??? Are those ashes around the stem??? Wondering what others will have to say!!! Can you post another image of that etching/logo???? Close-up!!! Thanks!!!
In case not everyone has read introduction, I would repeat from the U.K. In case that helps to explain what this is.
I can't tell from the photo, but is the top of the plunger a screen that something could be dispensed through, or is it solid? If it is meant to dispense something, there would also need to be a way to fill it.
I think it may be an alcohol dispenser - you push a cotton ball down onto the top. Here is a modern version: D&L (or L&D) may have been a pharmaceutical company.
Thanks for all the replies. The dish top does unscrew but is corroded so I have not seen inside. The section that pulls up has no resistance, it is weighted and just plops back down, the thin tube is hollow, the round top piece also unscrews and is covered with a metal gauze. There is no sign of ashes in the top dish. An alcohol dispenser sounds interesting I shall investigate this idea further thanks.
If there is no resistance, I don’t see how this would be a liquid dispenser. Unless when filled, it gains resistance somehow. It would require a spring, I would think. But, of course I could be wrong.
It looks as if the logo is DL8, which I see is a postal code in the UK. Maybe irrelevant, or may not say that at all.
I don’t think it would gain any resistence there’s too much weight at the bottom but as you suggest perhaps there’s something missing.
the logo is a fancy D & L intertwined sorry about the poor quality pic but perhaps you can see what I mean
Agree, the secret is probably inside. Drip a little WD-40 (everyone has a cannot two, no?) on the joint, leave for 8 hrs, unscrew. Or try thinnest oil you have. An alcohol dispenser is a good possibility, age would have dried up pump seals so there is no longer any pumping or resistance.