Anyone know what this brass/bronze cup's about ?

Here's a little (1 3/8" ht x 2 1/2" across, 5.4 ounces) brass/bronze cup-can anyone out there ID it ?
It seemed like an old grease cap on a Model T,but those threads on the lip don't screw on.
Any ideas where it was made and why ?
Thanks as always for the help.

 

Might not be one of Henry's, but it sure looks like an early hub cap to me, bosko.

They were used long before automobiles, on wagons, coaches, carriages & etc...all of them had axles with either journal or other bearings at the wheel-end, and thus needed to confine & maintain lubrication at that important wear-point.

A modern American manufacturer's name reflects late 19th C beginnings within it: Chicago Rawhide, founded 1878. Early hub-seals, for the inner side of wheel hubs, were made of rawhide; they provided lube-conservation an' grit exclusion at that crucial junction of rotating & stationary surfaces.

 

It looks like some kind of early hub cap,I just don't see how the male threads would join w/ the female axle hub end.The threads are concentric and end before the bowl rim.
It also reminds me of some kind of crucible,mortar or measuring cup-but who knows ? I can't find a mark anywhere on it-it's a stout little thing.
Is it partially turned/lathed ?

 

Yes, it certainly is.

I see no 'male' threads. An' the hub cap would not thread onto the axle end, but onto the rotating hub.

 

Whit-Thanks for the feedback.I'm a sucker for these mystery pieces.