Can You Identify This?

[sunny-dave]

https://postimg.org/image/mmh0gc1xn/

Do you know what this mysterious object is? The object turned up in a charity shop in south-western France a few days ago. After someone spotted a stamp on the bottom of the object saying “Made in England”, the image has been shared widely on Social Media in the UK - but with no definitive answer.

The object is made of plastic, is very lightweight, and sealed at both ends. The bottom red bit is a clenched hand (if you look closely, you can just make out the fingers) and does not detach from the cream-coloured tube above.

Can AB solve the puzzle?

SD

[Garaman]

Does it represent something caught redhanded?

[sunny-dave]

I did wonder if it was “Art” ....

[ferlew]

Looks like something Lakeland or Betterware would have in their catalogue.

[tonyav]

Looks like some sort of card holder to me.

[Calibax]

Are the black circles and lines holes and slots or just markings?

[Ken4155]

Definitely slots and obviously made to hold 'something'?

[murraymints]

Did it hold candle snuffers ? Looking at the shape of the slots something shaped down and is it a fist holding a candle ?

[ferlew]

Has to be something like that Murraymints, large piping nozzles?

[Mamyalynne]

Side on view


https://i.imgur.com/Ua2VXaJ.jpg

[ferlew]

Poo bag carrier for someone with five dogs :)

[anneasquith]

Baton ( to practice relay races )

[seekeerz]

BA for ferlew.....brilliant !

[david small]

Probably part of a kids table game.

[jno]

Looks like something from Ann Summers.

[Sam1960]

It's a gadget

[bhg481]

Think of a stud with a ring on the small end which can be attached to, say, a key or key-ring. The head of the stud is pushed through the hole and then slid down to the bottom of the slot, the keys hanging outside the tube. This gives you the ability to store 10 easily-removble sets of keys on the device.

[Bazile]

A hand holding a Greggs sasuage roll

[rowanwitch]

It looks like a point of sale advertising item to me, the way the hand grips the cream component would equate to the grip on a rolled up newspaper or maybe a bat. The colours look sort of 1950s and as it is lightweight plastic the slots are unlikely to support anything heavy or that would protrude too far. In fact as they are only along one face I suspect mamyalynne is making a better guess showing it laying down in which case it would be more stable. In this case I would be puzzled because it loses the visual impact of something being brandished. The v shape of the slots makes me lean towards something folded like a leaflet or small table menu. If the holes had dowels or similar in they would support something a little larger.
Where is Sherlock when you need him.