Some questions:
1) Is the cylinder in the background part of it? It looks like a stand for something. In any event, the object looks like it was made to sit on/in something that hid the lower part.
2) Is it even water (or oil) tight? That would be a good clue about whether it is a hot water bottle of some sort.
3) Ham sounds pretty sure it is a tabiki sahandir, or a modified one at any rate, and Rick suggested that the top and bottom could have been stuck together later. Is this the answer?
4) I'm still not clear what the "springed mounted" cap is. Can you pull it up far enough to get a look inside, or is how it looks in the photo as far out as it goes? If it is, the fact that it comes out crookedly like that could well be because of a tab that could be turned ro line up with the slot in the body & permit the whole cap to come out, as again Rick suggested.
5) What is it made out of? It looks like copper or maybe bronze in the photos, with brass used in the band around the equator of the thing.
6) Any evidence on the bottom that it was exposed to flame, or at least heat?
It looks nice, whatever it is. Maybe it is just a "thing."
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