It was stated by Adam that
... KevH only comes on line late at night ...
That's probably a fair comment. But I do drop in other times to get a look at what's being asked and that leaves me free for a few hours to wonder about things just like everyone else. And then, later, I can come back in the early hours and add my comments just as if I knew the answer straight away.
Adam also said that Anne had got close - but was not really there.
And he also gave a big hint (I presume) in saying that I would probably know what the mystery object is. In which case, it has to be something to do with one of my other interests that have been aired in the board from time to time. Recently I could be thought of as having declared some knowledge, and perhaps even an interest in (?), glass dildos.
But the main thing that many folk in here associate me with is ... bird watching. So Anne's bird bath topper-upper is probably what Adam was referring to as the good guess but not right.
Unfortunately, I cannot find another example of one of these on the Internet, to show you. And, just for completeness, I can say that in the Museum of London book on Whitefriars (re: Adam's comment that Whiterfriars made them), there seems to be nothing in the index or in the copies of the design pages, that covers this item.
ok, ok, I'll stop waffling ...
But hang on ... if anyone has a copy of Harold Newman's
An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass, try checking page 40. There is a definition (but no image) for an item that reads in part ...
A hollow receptacle having, projecting horizontally from the bottom, a small spout with an opening on its top for the ... [blah blah blah] ... that drop down from the container. They were made in England and elsewhere in the 18th and 19th centuries.
I think Adam's version differs from the ones described in the Dictionary in that there is just a small hole in the base, rather than in a horizontal projection.
Can anyone now guess what I think it is? [But please bear in mind that I may well be totally wrong.]