Do you know what this is?

There was me trying to find practical uses for it when ultimately its a piece of art therefore designed to be of no scientific or practical worth. In a word, useless. Oh well!

....and just to confirm it - look at this picture!
http://www.masonicdictionary.com/plumb.html

Bill M.

I think the last few answers have solved the mystery. It's a plumb - but it's also not a plumb! If the brass pear could swing freely it would work - but it doesn't need to work - because it's a symbolic tool from the Freemason's Tools collection. There are probably squares and compasses that don't work either somewhere that match it. As in this picture at the head of a freemason's dictionary
http://www.rgle.org.uk/Dictionary.htm

Well done folks - we got there in the end!

Bil M!

Could it be some sort of toy or game? The rounded end may be a handle and the brass piece should be flicked into the matching hole at the top?

OK, I think I got it figured, first the obvious answer, it's a plumb board used to check walls etc are upright (bit like a spirit level) now things get complicated, on a plumb board the string is only attached at the top (where the fancy wood is) and the plumb bob should be attached to the other end so it can swing about to show when things aren't upright, I assume the string has been attached at the bottom by someone not knowing what they had (could be wrong) and the brass weight is in fact a plumb bob upside down and missing its finial and steel point (are there screw threads in the ends?) The original bob would have been lead.

Looking forward to being proved wrong

Mike

this looks like a plumb. It doesm't look very practical as it is almost certainly from the Freemasonry second degree "working tool"

Sadly none seem to really be accurate so far. The string doesn't detach - so not plumb line. The brass isn't restricted - so no egg timer. I'm starting to worry that it might just be an objet d'art rather than a device / tool of some sort. More pictures wouldn't show much - the back is the same but without the visible string. When the brass "pear" is in the hole it is almost flush with the wood. Good ideas though everyone - keep 'em coming! Bill M.

If there was some means that allowed the string to be detatched from the bulb shaped opening it might serve as a small plumb line or level.I came across this website
www.greatplanestrading.com and this particular image
http://www.greatplanestrading.com/StP10/DSCN0672.jpg. Id love to see more pictures of this thing,

Looks like some sort of thermometer... not sure how it would work though.

Nut cracker?

I'd say following on from the idea that the string is fixed is that it is a musical instrumant. Intriging shall mentionto family members

Given the shape of the brass and the simple nature of the device I would suggest it being used as an egg timer. Mounted on a wall with the round end at the top, the user would move the brass 'egg' to the top and by the time it had moved to the bottom, the brass 'egg' would pop into the hole and the egg would be cooked. If the user wanted a runnier yolk, simply start the brass 'egg' from a lower height.

Obviously this idea depends entirely on the fluidity of the movement of the brass on the wood and over the string.

Let me know on Twitter (@Vexape).

As the string is fixed, the brass item must be central to the function of the object as a whole. It can't be that old or the organic materials such as wood and especially string would have corroded and the copper alloy part will have begun to turn green. either its been kept in good condition or i'd guess its not much older than 1900ish.

I would imagine that it could have been used as a crude spy hole, simply sliding the brass item in and out of the pear shaped hole to allow you to see who is on the other side of the door. As a toy, its either incomplete, aprt of a game we don't understand or just very boring and an absence of regular markings should rule out its use as a measuring device.

well it would appear that the brass pear shaped piece would fit through the hole at one end....it could be a counting device maybe.

old fashioned time piece perhaps?

I don't know. maybe a tool used to measure the density or gravity of a liquid.