does anybody know what this 'spool thing" is???

This came from the 'after the farm sale' haul -- I have no earthly idea how it ended up there, or from where it got there. Does anyone recognize it??

To me, it looks like it might be some kind of spool to hold thread/string as part of some kind of industrial loom or sewing machine or something.

Or maybe it was a lamp. Or a spool turned into a lamp. Or . . . ???

However, in any case I can't quite come up with an explanation for all its various assortment of holes/borings, none of which would appear to be there randomly. It is made of turned Maple (I think) and stands about 9" tall, its base is about 4" wide. (assuming the wide part is the 'bottom'?)

I used metal rods in the pics to show how it has three 1/4" (or so) holes bored: 1) all the way thru its length 2) at a steep angle into its skinny stem joining with the thru-hole and 3) at a lesser angle into the wide part of its base. Additionally, the top of its stem is counterbored about 1", about 2" deep. The underside of the wide end appears to have been milled out forming a rectangular cavity about 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" that is rounded inside. Its base also appears to have once had green felt glued to it, probably covering that cavity.

WHAT SAY YE, learned friends of Collector's Weekly?? :-)