IRON WHATZIT - ANY IDEAS?

[relicmeister]

I found this at a Victorian-era homesite. Here it is all restored. It's made from two separate pieces-the top slides up and down about 3/8" but is not removable. The inside is hollow with the rectangular opening on one side and a small hole opposite.The bottom is flared with an inside opening of about half an inch. There does not appear to be any opening from the bottom to the part with the rectangular opening and hole, otherwise I'd say is that it was from the top of a kettle and would whistle when the steam pressure built-up. If not that, I'm clueless. Any thoughts? Breezy!

 

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[bigfoot1]

I'm thinkin waste valve component.small steam engine

 

[DCMatt]

My first thought was "part of a garden gate latch".

DCMatt

 

[relicmeister]

Thanks for taking a crack at it. Whatever it really is I think it's a cool relic, in part because it has moving parts.