Weird laboratory object

[ffutures]

Someone at another school has found this and is trying to identify it - I've checked a 1927 biology catalogue and a 1952 chemistry catalogue with no success, but maybe someone here has an idea what it is. It's made of earthenware, and the wide part (at the bottom, but for all I know it's intended to be at the top) is 10.5cm wide. The top bit that looks like a handle is solid, not hollow, so it isn't a funnel.

My guess is something like a cover for a drain or some sort of jar, but does anyone know for sure?

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I have to say my first thought from looking at it was that it looked upside down. But it would need some sort of geometrically complementary receptacle, such as the funnel you mention. Without knowing what that receptacle was, it's going to be hard to figure out its function.