I love this, I just don't know what it is. Any ideas?

Going to need more pics. Inside the bowl, under side, close up of mechanism ,what happens when the cog turns? With little to go by, I would say it is a wheat grinder.

 

Is there anything inside the bowl? If not, I'd say it's just an interesting conglomeration.

 

Welcome to Antiquers, @Riffmax . I don't know the answer, but with more photos somebody may come up with an identification.

 

Ditto Figgy-bigger/better pics.Any verbiage on the piece,is the gearing wood,i assume there's a hole in the bottom of the top tray ?
To me it looks like some kind of primitive winnowing/flour milling piece-but that's just a wild guess.

 

It doesn't look like there was a handle or crank on either side of the worm screw, or whatever its called.

I'm thinking maybe the cranking mechanism attached through the hole on the bottom, under the gear.

 

And no, there is no opening at the bottom of the tray.

 

I'd guess it's made from 3 different items ........and is now lawn art...

 

Hubby thinks it's just a random conglomeration made to look old that isn't actually anything at all.

I feel like someone went to an awful lot of trouble to make it look legit, if that's the case. I have plenty of things that aren't legit, and this doesn't look like any of them.

 

After seeing your pictures I am going to go with a whimsical conglomeration. That is a Dough bowl but the stand would not be sturdy enough to knead dough so they had this great gear mounted already that they liked so they attached the bowl to A) raised popcorn bowl by your recliner B) knitter's bowl to hold yarn by their recliner as they knitted c) bowl to hold veggies or fruit OR D) as my father use to say to me when I asked what something was for ,"to make you ask questions"

 

It's the first invention by Ron Popeil-a "Kinetically-Powered Sledgeomatic Juicer/False Teeth Irradiator/Cow Caller/Cat Box Cleaner Cole Slaw Dicer"...and i need it bad !

 

It looks sort of like this yarn winder only that's been modified.





https://www.etsy.com/listing/564923...636a:564923618&click_sum=cf1d6f34&ref=hp_rf-1

 

Bingo! Squarely hit 16d finishing nail struck with a greasy ball-peen hammer...Spot ON!

 

No way it would work as a cream separator - no spouts, and no way to spin the bowl. It is a nice confection, though.

"What Is a Cream Separator and How Does It Work?
A cream separator was used to separate the cream from the milk after the milking was finished. These machines used centrifugal force to send the cream and the milk to separate spouts where each by-product flowed into its own containers.

The person operating the separator, usually a farmer's spouse or child, would turn a handle around and around. The cranking created a powerful spin that generated thousands of RPMs and in turn spun the container around and caused the milk to be pulled against the walls of the separator while the cream, which was lighter, collected in the center. These separators came in a variety of sizes from small tabletop models for small farms to huge floor models for larger dairies."
https://www.lovetoknow.com/home/ant...rator was used,flowed into its own containers.