Not a rolling pin...

[arthurk]

A wild shot it the dark here but could it be a Masonic artefact?

I'd have thought someone of that kind of background could quite easily have had masonic links, but I haven't found any evidence of them. Nor do I know anything about masonic artefacts, but maybe someone could enlighten us...?

Arthur

[Maggie.]

That was what I thought  arthurk - a Yorkshire textile mill owner was quite likely to have been a Mason.

[Lydart]

My ten cents worth .... quill pens dont have nibs; you cut a 'nib' onto the end of the quill.

[Treetotal]

If it was masonic it would most likely have the square and compass symbol on it I would have thought.
Carol

[millymcb]

The wider stopper on the right.... does that completely fill the 1.5" hole - it looks like it is almost that big?  Is the stopper solid?

Milly

[arthurk]

Both stoppers go in about 0.75", and they themselves are hollowed out, so the wood forming the stopper is only about 0.1" or 2mm thick.

I said before that there was no sign of any ink on the inside, but looking at it again, there are some black marks and fainter red ones on the outside of the cylinder, which do look a bit like ink.

Arthur

[Treetotal]

My first impression was art related...a holder for paint brushes or charcoal.
Carol

[millymcb]

So the stopper could in theory have a rolled up document secured in the stopper and then placed inside? So you pull out the stopper and the doc comes with it.

Not sure what the other end would be for though.. powder for sprinkling to dry ink?

I'm just making this up as I go along - I am not even convincing myself here.

Milly

[millymcb]

Or what about something like this - a sealing wax vesta holder. It has two compartments in it..
http://www.steppeshillfarmantiques.com/silver-and-porcelain/d/victorian-silver-combination-sealing-wax-holder-vesta-case-go-to-bed-seal/121665

Milly